The Summer
by Andrea Genea
Summary: not based on story  On fan fic cuz no one reads fic press. Elli falls madly in love with someone who has a dangerous past involving murder. Can they get past it? or will they fall to pieces? bad summ, but read and review please :
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
>June 5th<p>

"Finally!" Elizabeth breathed as she stuck her torso out of the window, breathing in the humid summer air. Her long brown hair blew around her face, catching in her strawberry lip gloss. She swept it away with her perfectly polished finger. It was finally that time of year, summer. The long nine months that she spends in her all-girl boarding school was getting to her. This year had been particularly difficult for her. While she had many friends as a freshman and sophomore, this year they'd dropped her for the "chic girls."

Everyone started making new friends and ditching the old ones. You'd think that all the old ones would gravitate together and start forming their own cliques and they did, but Elizabeth was left alone. She spent most of her time in her AP writing and her AP music classes. Her days consisted of going through the motions of her first classes and as soon as she got to lunch, she'd grab her tray, leave the cafeteria, and book it down the music room where she'd eat alone and write songs. After that, she'd go to her classes and as soon as school was over, she'd drive home, go upstairs, and play the guitar. It was lonely at times, but it was all she needed. Her family was fabulously wealthy and one would think that would earn her popularity, but it didn't. Her father owned a long chain of five star hotels and one would think that would also earn her popularity, but it didn't.

But it was summer now, and her summers have been spent in Allagash, Maine. Here the summer temperatures sometimes reached the hundreds, just the way Elizabeth likes it. But when she's not here, she's in Dubuque Iowa, which has some of the harshest winters in the United States. She's always pleased when she can ditch her cold winter and fall clothes and slip into some skimpy shorts and a spaghetti strapped tank. Even though she's an unpopular loner in Dubuque, she's wildly popular in Allagash. Over the 16 summers she's been coming to Allagash, she's made great friends. Her and her three best friends are constantly out till the early morning hours. Though the parties surprisingly don't involve any alcohol and when they do, the four girls never touch their lips to any, and always leave at modest times.

They stay in the master suite at one of the hotels her father owns in Allagash. Behind it, Elizabeth and her family keep some horses in a large barn. They have over three-hundred acres to roam and run. One of her favorite things to do, when she's not busy with her friends, is ride her oldest horse, Lilly, to a creak a few miles away. She has a hammock up there and a guitar stashed in a hallowed out tree. She writes and plays songs for hours.

"Elli, get yourself back in this car!" her mother's voice scolded. Elli has always been her nickname.

She did as she was told and pulled her thin body back into the car and down to her seat. She re-buckled and rolled up the window. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"I know you're excited, but I don't need you falling out of the car…you have enough accidents as it is." She chuckled quietly.

Elli smiled and looked out the window. She's never been very coordinated and constantly trips on her own two feet. Her mother always jokes about it, usually saying she's too dangerous for her own good.

Elli loves to sing. She sings all the songs she writes and keeps them in a special binder that she takes with her to Allagash every summer. She then plays them for her friends in the barn behind the hotel. Then the sign appeared. "Welcome to Allagash!" it said. She wriggled in her seat as they passed rows and rows of trees. And then the giant, white hotel appeared. The Tanner resort was its name. They pulled in drove around the culdesac and stopped at the doors. It looked more like a mansion than a hotel. Two extremely hansom men dressed in black pants and blue vests, Thomas and Drake, ran down the steps and opened her door.

"Welcome back, ." the brunette greeted.

"Thanks, Thomas." she smiled and took his hand. He helped her out of the car.

Her father was walking down the steps after them. "Ah, two of my favorite girls!" he cried, spreading his arms.

"Daddy!" Elli cried, running into his open arms.

"Hey, sweetheart." He squeezed her. "So…is Laura coming?"

Her heart immediately sank. Laura was Elizabeth's older sister. She was a senior this year and was also the most popular girl at their boarding school. Everyday her sister taunted her, calling her dumb, ugly, friendless and all her beautiful friends laughed. But instead of starting an argument with her father, Elizabeth stomped up the steps. She traipsed threw the marble lobby, her designer flip-flops making loud smacking noises on her heals. She strode over to the large check in desk and set down her purse. This year, her father had finally agreed to reserve the second largest room in the hotel for her friends. Elizabeth had to stay in her own room because there weren't enough beds in the suite. She was perfectly fine with that, after all, they could still have sleepovers.

"Oh shoot!" a voice snapped behind the desk. She peered over the desk to see who it was.

"Hello?" she called.

The Voice sounded strangely like Anna's. Anna is one of the three best friends that Elli looks forward to seeing each summer. She has beautiful blond hair and goes to church every Sunday. Suddenly, the girl flew up from behind the counter. Her long black hair had dark blue streaks in it. She had lip rings, eyebrow rings, nose rings and ear rings. Her dark eye makeup was quite scary…this was _not _Anna. Elli's eyes widened as she looked over the girls piercings. Then she looked down at the girl's name tag.

"Oh...my god…" was all she could say.

This was Anna…but a new…unimproved Anna. Elli looked up at the girl, she wasn't smiling, instead she was giving Elli a look of shear annoyance. "H-Hi…Anna," She murmured.

"What do you want? Daddy's little princess can't find her room?" she mocked, making a pouting face.

"Anna?" she hissed.

Anna rolled her eyes and handed Elli the room key. "Just go."

Elli couldn't believe her yes. She wanted to say more, but Anna turned around and went into the back room. Before she knew it, there was loud screamo music coming from the walls. She turned around and headed for the elevator. As she punched in the number of her floor, she felt a sadness come over her. Anna was one of her best friends…and now she…wasn't Anna anymore. What could have possibly happened to her over the school year that caused her to go from the girl who goes to church to the one that vandalizes it?  
>Elli hadn't been here since the summer of 2007. Her parents had her stay with her Aunt and Uncle last summer because of what happened in 2007. Anna must have made her changes over the course of that summer and over the next.<p>

The elevator dinged and the doors opened up. Another elevator opened up beside and Thomas stepped out, rolling two suit cases and carrying a third under his arm. These were all of Elli's things.

"Let me take that!" Elli smiled, grabbing one of the suit cases.

"It's really no problem," Thomas smiled at her. He had beautiful the silky hair that all the girls love. He was basically the beach god that all the girls dreamed about. She followed him to her room and handed him the key when they arrived there. "Here you are," he opened the door.

The suite was just as she remembered it. Huge canopy bed, giant bathroom, a theater screen sized TV on the left wall. The farthest wall, the one looking over the beach, was made completely of glass. She ran to it and opened the curtains and then ran to the other wall. This one had a window that also looked over the beach; she opened it and breathed in the fresh air. "Finally," she whispered.

She turned around to thank Thomas, but he'd gone. She immediately went to the drawers and opened them all up. She unpacked all of her clothes and put away her music. She moseyed on into the bathroom to see if she needed to fix her hair. The long brown curls she put in that morning had already fallen out. Her hair was back to its silky straightness. She reapplied some makeup and changed into a bikini. She put her shorts and tank back on over it. She ran to the elevator and quickly pushed the buttons. Before she knew it, the elevator had stopped and the doors opened. She ran out and through the hotel doors. It was time to start this magnificent summer.

As she walked down the street, she began to hear the loud noise coming from the beach. She giggled to herself, knowing that all of her friends were waiting for her down by the pier. Her footsteps became quicker and eventually she was running toward the beach. As she got to the end, she could see the loud crowd standing by the water. She walked further until she was at the edge of the crowd.

"Elli!" someone screamed.

She smiled and waved at everyone. Suddenly two of her remaining best friends bolted out of the crowd. "Elli!" Her friends Shannon and Amber were screaming.

Elli ran into their open arms and they all hugged. "Oh I missed you guys!" Elli hollered over the loud noise.

"Well guess what? This summer is going to be epic!" Amber smiled, pushing her short auburn hair out of her eyes.

"Definitely." Shannon agreed.

The girls chatted and caught up for a few minutes. After, they led Elli around to say hello to everyone that had missed her. They all walked down to the edge of the beach and stood in the water. Elli turned to the other girls. "Race you to the raft!" she shouted, taking of her shirt and wriggling out of her Hollister shorts. She tossed off her Gucci flip-flops and ran onto the dock. When she looked back, the other girls were right behind her, slipping out of their clothes and starting to run. She stopped at the end of the dock and stood there. She waited as her friends caught up.

"What are you waiting for? I thought we were racing?" Amber huffed.

"Let's jump together." Elli smiled.

They all grinned with excitement. Their best friend was back for the summer. They'd missed her terribly.

They all joined hands and smiled at each other. "On three,"Shannon commanded. "One,"

"Two," Amber laughed.

"Three!" Elli screamed.

The three girls leaped off the dock and into the warm water. When the three of them surfaced, the splashing began. But Elli was a faster swimmer and she started swimming to the raft. When she finally reached it, she climbed up and laid flat on her back. The hot sun was beating down on her pale body. Her friends joined her minutes later, all lying on their backs as well.

"So…What's up with…Anna?" Elli asked quietly.

The two others exchanged glances. "She kind of just…spiraled downward after you left that summer."

"What do you mean?"

"She went crazy…she thought she couldn't handle you leaving again." Amber whispered.

It was silent for a few moments. Elli was still curious as to what happened with Anna.

"She tried to…hurt herself." Shannon murmured.

"What?" Elli shot up. "What do you mean she tried to hurt herself?"

"It's…a long story. But after the event…her parents sent her to a mental ward thing. We weren't allowed to visit her and she's now dropped out of high school."

"When she came back, we tried to reconnect with her but she didn't want anything to do with us."

Elli felt the tears come to her eyes. They stung and the lump in her throat was causing an unbearable ache. Soon the tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was gasping in sobs. Amber and Shannon began to hug and rub small circles on her back.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked.

"It's all my fault." Elli choked out.

"No it's not!" Shannon argued quickly. "It's not your fault at all."

"Yeah, Shannon's right. Elli, you can't please everyone and it's not your fault that you have to leave at the end of the summer."

"I know…I hate leaving though." Elli cried.

"We do too."

Shannon and Amber exchanged glances. Then they each nodded and stood up.

"But right now you're here. And guess what?" Shannon said sternly.

"What?" Elli whispered.

"We are going shopping, our treat." Amber smiled.

"No, guys I don't know…"

"We are, and when's the last time you had a boyfriend?" Shannon questioned.

Elli shrugged. "A few years ago, I don't know."

"Well that's another thing we're going to get you."

The two girls smiled at their friend. This was sure to be a great summer. They all stood up and jumped back into the water. As they swam, Elli began to let the guilt fade away and allow herself to enjoy the time she was going to have with her friends. The girls splashed and kicked while they stroked to the shore. When they finally were able to stand, they crawled back onto the dock and wrung out their hair. The sun was even hotter than before. They walked down the dock and back to their clothes that were lying where they'd left them. They all re-dressed and slipped on their flip-flops and began walking onto the sand.

"So where should we hit?" Amber asked.

"Why don't we just hang out?" Elli asked.

"Why? I thought you loved shopping?" Shannon asked.

"Well I thought we could get you guys set up in your suites!" Elli shouted excitedly.

"No way!" They squealed.

"Way!" She smiled.

"What are we waiting for?" Shannon squeaked.

The three friends darted off the beach and onto the gravel road. Their flip-flops weren't protecting their feet and they soon had to stop. Rocks kept getting kicked up into their shoes, causing immense pain went their heels touched down. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"This way," Shannon huffed.

She started walking off the trail and toward the woods. There was a small hose that was typically used for washing off from the beach. She turned it on and felt the water. "It's super cold!" she shouted.

The other girls shrugged and stepped toward her. She began to drink from the hose. As her friends walked closer, Shannon slowly removed the hose from her lips and placed her thumb over the opening, then she pointed it in Elli's and Amber's direction.

"No!" The girls shrieked.

They laughed and sprayed each other with the hose, each taking turns.

About an hour or so later, the girls marched up the marble steps and into the grand hotel. They laughed as they heard the sound of water dripping from their soaking bodies. Amber's short auburn hair clung to her cheeks. She shook her head back and forth like a dog, soaking the others. They giggled and did the same with their hair. Shannon shook her long golden hair.

"Girls!" Elli's mother called.

"Hello Mrs. Tanner!" Amber and Shannon singsonged.

"Hello girls, oh you have grown over the year!" She smiled, placing her hand on her chest. She turned to Elli and gave her a serious look. "Now, Elizabeth, the guests will begin to arrive and I _expect _you to clean up."

Elli nodded and smiled at her mother. "Let's go see your suite." She commanded.

The girls all nodded and walked politely to the elevator. "Oh and Elizabeth?" Elli's mother called.

She turned. "Yes mother?"

"I want you to be ready for the welcome back summer dinner tonight."

"Absolutely." Elli answered.

"Amber, Shannon?" Her mother called again.

"Yes, Mrs. Tanner?" They answered.

"I'd like for you girls to join us as well."

They all smiled and nodded. The girls proceeded into the elevator and watched as Elizabeth pressed the button.

"So what's the suite look like?" Amber asked.

"It's beautiful. Lace and frill everywhere, it's very feminine. I think you'll love it." She smiled.

The doors opened and they all stepped out. Elli led them down the hall and to their suite, which was right next door to hers. She took out a long key and slid it into the small hole. She turned it both ways and unlocked the door. She opened it and motioned for them to go in.

"I'll let you two get settled in, meet me in my room in fifteen." Elli closed their door and slid a copy of her key under their door. She then walked next door to hers. She twisted her key in the lock and walked into her fabulous suite.

She grabbed some gym shorts and a tank from Abercrombie. She padded into the bathroom and turned on the hot shower. She slipped off her wet clothes and stepped in. She jumped at the hot water but then relaxed. As she shampooed and conditioned, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. Whatever happened back in Iowa was behind her. Next year she'd be a senior and would be perfecting her music. Then the following fall, she'd be off to Julliard to get started.

When everything was said and done, she'd move back here and live comfortably with her friends. But that was the future, and the more she thought about it, the more scared she became. But it was time to focus on this moment…tonight. Tonight was the welcome back summer dinner and dance. Her parent's threw the bash every year, but they'd always made Elli stay in her suite. But this year she'd attend and she'd have the time of her life. Since Laura hadn't showed up yet, that meant she must not be coming and that would mean all the more attention for Elli.

She turned off the water and grabbed a towel. She wrapped herself in it and dried off. She put on her clothes and went back into the other room. Since she _and_ her friends would be attending the dinner this year, she'd give them both mani-pettis.

"Hey!" Two voices shouted.

Her friends skipped through the door and leaped onto her bed. They'd already showered and had silk robes on. "Hey," Elli greeted. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I thought I'd give you guy's manicures and pedicures?"

"Yes!" Shannon and Amber squealed.

Elizabeth painted their nails. The girls gossiped and caught up from the long nearly two years that they'd been apart. Amber and Shannon both had boyfriends. They both had already called them and invited them to the dinner tonight. They felt bad that Elli didn't have a boyfriend, but Elli kept assuring them that it didn't bother her. It did bother her, but she didn't want to ruin their fun, it wasn't their fault that she was unwanted by a boy. Over summers they'd tried to hook Elli up with guys from Allagash but she was so close to all of them that it just felt…odd. The ones she did like, always turned her down in rude and humiliating ways. She was friends with all the boys here and they all felt like brothers. Eventually, the girls gave up on the institution and had stayed single. It wasn't that hard, Shannon and Amber were late bloomers and weren't the prettiest girls in the bunch. Elli couldn't exactly blame the guys; she was a late bloomer as well. But over time, she and her friends had bloomed and bloomed beautifully.

Amber, who last year had long, frizzy, red hair, wasn't chubby anymore. She lost weight and her cheek bones were more pronounced. Her green eyes were now accented with gold eye shadow and black eyeliner. Her hair was now cut into a short, chic look and was darker. Her hair was stick straight, even after her hair was dry.

Shannon's shoulder length hair grew out over the nine months. IT was now down to her butt and curled beautifully at the ends. She had bright blue eyes and a white smile. Her friends were absolutely gorgeous and it was no wonder why they had boyfriends. Elli sighed and stood up. She'd finished their nails and was feeling hesitant to finish getting ready.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing…"

"That's not nothing, that's the face you had when Johnny broke up with you a few years ago…" Shannon observed.

"You know what, I don't care that I don't have a date. I don't need a guy to be happy, and guess what? All those guys that turned me down, they're going to be sorry they did."

"Absolutely, that's the spirit!" Amber smiled.

"I'm going to need your help…" Elli sighed. "I have no idea what to do…"

Her friends smiled at her and left the room. They returned moments later with flat irons, curling irons, makeup and a series of products.

"Ta-da!" The girls shouted proudly. Elli tried to turn around to see what they'd done to her, but Shannon stopped her.

"Wait till we're gone, kay?" she smiled sweetly.

Elli smiled and then sighed. "Fine."

Her friends shuffled out the door to get ready themselves. Elli took a deep breath and turned around. She smiled at her reflection. Her friends did an awesome job with her hair and makeup. Her long brown hair was pulled up and had only a few curled strands of hair dangling. Her eyes were done in a smokey way and her lips had a deep red lipstick on. She looked as though she'd gained three years, perfect. She got up to go get her dress. The girls must have peaked at some point, because her lips matched her dress.

This event was a big deal. It was a ball gown and black tie event. You dressed up or you were booted out. So her family bought her a four-thousand dollar dress for the occasion. After the dinner, it almost became a summer prom for the teens.

She pulled out her red, strapless dress and admired it. It was a floor length gown that was a deep red. The torso was fitted to accentuate any type of curve you have. The bottom flared out with a series of red flowers bunching up areas, but not in a tacky way. She slipped off her robe and shorts, along with her tank top. Then she pulled up the dress and zipped up the back. As she admired what it did to her figure, she heard a knock at her door.

She pulled up the front and ran over to the door to see who it was. She peered through the whole and felt her shoulders drop. She opened the door and folded her arms.

"Hi sissy!" her sister Laura yelled. She went in to hug Elli, but Elli leaned out of the way. Her sister looked puzzled.

Elli rolled her eyes and walked back over to her vanity. She picked up some powder and began to dab it on her chest.

"What the hell is your problem?" her sister snapped.

"What are you doing here?" Elli hissed.

Laura strutted into the room and put her suit case on the bed. "Setting up in _my _room."

"Oh no you're not! This is _my _room." Elli snapped back.

"Wanna bet?" Laura questioned with an attitude. "Actually, you're right, this isn't technically my room. My room is the one next door, but there's a bunch of screaming girls in there, so I'm taking yours." She tapped her foot.

Elli took a deep breath and looked back in the mirror. Her face was as red as her dress. She grabbed her phone and dialed her father.

"Who are you calling?" Laura asked.

Elli held up a finger.

"Hello, this is the Tanner Grand Hotel, how may I assist you?" her father's professional voice answered.

"Daddy, Laura's here and she's trying to kick me out of my room." She answered.

"Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Yes, now can you please come up here and straighten this out?"

He sighed. "I have a lot to do…"

"I know, and I'm extremely sorry to bother you, but this is important, and it will only take a moment." She pleaded.

"Fine, I'll be up in a few minutes." He sighed.

"Thanks,"

They hung up and Elli slammed the phone on the desk. She turned to Laura and walked over to her suitcase. "You're not staying in this room." She hissed, putting her clothes back in the suitcase.

"Yes I am!" Laura hissed. She gave Elli a shove. Elli fell backwards and tripped on her dress. She fell to the floor and hit her head on the chair.

She looked up at her sister, completely in shock. She touched the back over head and then looked at her fingers. There was red covering them. Then the throbbing pain came. Elli couldn't find the strength in her legs to stand up, she rolled over and grabbed on to the chair. She pulled herself up and stood.

Laura stood across the room, a shocked look on her face. Elli waited for her sister to apologize and rush to her side, but she didn't. Laura stepped toward her, a look coming across her face that said 'If you tell dad I'll hurt you even worse next time.' Elli backed up to the glass wall. She pressed her body to it and looked out. Laura took another step toward her and another…until eventually; she was standing right in front of Elli. Elli's breathing picked up and her heart pounded. Her head throbbed but she wasn't paying attention to that.

Laura lifted a hand but put it down as soon as she heard a room key going into the door. She jumped back and landed on the canopy bed. Elli continued to breathe heavily until she got light headed. She looked over at her father who had an odd expression on his face.

"What happened in here?" Their father bellowed.

Elli looked down at her body. A stream of blood was running down her chest and into the middle of her dress. Elli looked frantically over at her sister who sat calmly on the bed, her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. Laura looked at Elli again, the same look came across her face that was there before. Elli swallowed hard and looked at her dad.

"I-I tripped…" she stammered. She wasn't about to tell him that her sister pushed her into the chair. Something told her that if she did, her sister really would hurt her or...worse.

"You tripped?" her father questioned.

Elli nodded slowly.

"Well…let's have a look at that cut." He muttered.

Her father walked swiftly over to her. Elli turned around so he could see. "I'm going to go get your Alana, she'll know how to take care of this," he stated.

He turned from Elli. "Laura stay here and watch her." He ordered. Their father left the room.

Laura walked over to Elli and smiled. "Watch it sis, or this will be the least painful thing that happens to you." And with that, Laura strolled out of the room, leaving Elli all alone.

Her vision began to get blurry and before she knew it, she slid down the glass wall, leaving a long streak of blood as she fell to the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
>June 5th<p>

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth, sweetie, are you alright?" Alana's voice ran in Elli's ear.

Elli slowly opened her eyes and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes shot open. "Where's Laura?"

Then a figure appeared in the door. As her vision became focused, she saw the figure was Laura. Her pulse picked up again.

"Are you alright? You must have taken quite the spill…" Alana whispered.

"I'm fine..." she mumbled.

Elli looked to her left and saw her friends standing there, the looks on their faces hinted to the fact that they heard something. But then she looked down at her surroundings. She wasn't in her dress anymore and she was lying on _her _bed. She sat up slowly and removed the white cloth from her forehead. She touched the back over head and winced. She felt the stitches back there. Alana must have stitched her up while she was passed out.

"Ahem…" Laura cleared her throat in the doorway.

Elli bristled and clutched the sheets.

"There you are!" she shouted, acting as if she was out of breath. "I ran downstairs to find you because Elli passed out!" she huffed.

Elli tensed even further. This was the lie that she was going to feed her parents? Is she serious?

"You should have called, are you crazy? Your sister could have been seriously injured." Their father scolded.

Laura crumpled to the floor and began to sob. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know what to do!" she cried.

Their mother rushed over to Laura's side. "IT's alright dear, you were scared." She rubbed Laura's back and helped her up.

"Your father got you your own room. It's on the next floor up." She cooed, handing Laura a key.

Laura nodded and sauntered out of the room. Elli immediately felt calmer knowing that her sister wasn't on the same floor.

"I don't think you'll be up to going to the dance tonight..." her father whispered.

"No, I want to go." Elli shot up, instantly feeling an uncomfortable head rush.

She stood up slowly and went over and grabbed a mini mirror. She stood with her back facing the bigger mirror and held up the smaller one. "You can't even see them." She smiled through the pain.

They had a worried look on their faces, but her family nodded and slowly left the room. Her friends remained in the corner of the room, still looking worried.

"What'd you hear?" Elli whispered. But before her friends could answer, she quickly opened the room door, and looked outside. Laura wasn't there. She locked the door and chained it.

"Alright, what'd you hear?" she asked again.

"We didn't just hear…we saw…" Shannon stammered.

"You-you saw?" Elli asked, horrified that she wasn't the only one who witnessed her sister's attack on her.

They nodded.

"We didn't know what to do…" Amber whispered.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Elli murmured.

"No, it's not, we should have stopped it." Shannon argued.

There was a knock on the door again. The girls jumped as they looked over at the large door. Elli took a deep breath and walked over. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was only room service with her dress. She opened the door and smiled lightly.

"We had the blood cleaned from your dress miss," the elderly woman smiled.

"Thank you so much," Elli smiled back.

She closed the door and laid the dress down on the bed. As she looked it over, she began to realize that they did get every stain out. It was as if there was never any blood. She smiled and took her dress into her bathroom.

"Elli, we seriously need to discuss this…" Amber's voice came through the door. They had twenty minutes till dinner and Elli did not want to be late.

When her dress was on she slipped out of the bathroom and back into the main room. "I know, but what can we do?"

"Elli you have to tell!" Shannon half yelled.

"No," Elli snapped. "We can't do that."

"Why not?" Amber asked.

"Because…You didn't see the way she looked at me before dad came." She whispered.

"What do you mean?" Shannon questioned.

"She looked at me like she was going to hurt me if I told." Elli didn't feel like mentioning that her sister threatened her further. "You guys have to promise me that you're not going to tell."

The girls stiffened but eventually nodded. "We're staying in your room tonight though." Amber said sternly.

"There's not enough room, you wouldn't be comfortable." Elli shook her head.

"Fine, then you're staying in ours." Shannon compromised.

"Well let's get to this dinner?" Elli suggested.

They all nodded and linked arms. As they left the room and to the elevator, they couldn't help but feel like they were being followed. Every once and a while, they'd look back to see if they really were being followed, but never saw anyone. The three friends entered the elevator and felt their nerves slipping away…until they saw the elevator was going up, not down.

"It's not her…She's probably already down there." Shannon whispered.

Elli swallowed in fear as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Laura stood in front of them, her arms crossed. She was wearing a long black dress with a plunging neck that went down to her navel. There was a long slit up the side that went to her thigh. She stepped in and smiled at the girls.

"How's your head, sissy?" she asked sarcastically.

"It hurts." Elli whispered. And then it dawned on her, why was she acting afraid of her? Why should she give Laura the satisfaction of being scared? "Where are you going? The slut convention?"

Laura shot her a look, her eyes looking as though they were on fire. "Watch it, or what I said to you earlier will come true."

The elevator doors opened and Shannon and Amber tried to pull Elli out of the elevator, but Laura held her arm. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her." She hissed. "Go if you know what's good for you."

The girls looked at each other in worry. "Go, it's okay." Elli managed to stutter.

Her friends left the elevator and walked away. Laura looked back at Elli and glanced at her neck. Then she slowly lifted a finger and ran it across Elli's neck. And then down to her necklace and lifted it slowly. She let it drop, smiled at Elli and then stepped out of the elevator. Elli clutched her heart, absolutely horrified.

She then walked out of the elevator and swiftly caught up to her friends who were standing by the doors. "What'd she want?" Shannon asked.

"Nothing…Are your dates here yet?" Elli asked.

"Right there." They both pointed to two guys that were walking up the steps.

"Cute," Elli smiled.

They came through the doors and smiled. Each of them kissed her friends on the cheek and then turned to Elli.

"This is Elli," Shannon introduced. "Elli this is Allen."

"And this is Jeff." Amber smiled.

They shook Elli's hand and smiled. "I'll see you guys later."

Elli quickly walked away, her heels clicking on the marble floor. As she approached the doors to the grand room, she felt the eyes of someone on her. She turned around to see who it was, but no one was there. But the guests were arriving now and that was her cue to get into the hall and look perfect with her family.

It's been something that Elli has always looked forward to. Every year there are thousands of pictures posted online of this dinner. Elli always admired them, staring constantly at the picture of her family. IT was the same picture every year. Mr. and Mrs. Tanner stood at the top of a staircase and Laura stood a few steps down, her right hand always resting on the railing. Elli had been dreaming of the day that she'd get to stand even further down on the staircase, even closer to the camera. It'd be the one time that she could one up her sister.

"Elizabeth Marie Tanner," her mother sang out.

"Coming mom," Elli answered.

She walked even faster through the doors and found her parents. They stood with Champagne glasses in their hands. They smiled as their daughter approached them.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Mrs. Tanner asked, embracing her daughter in a light hug.

"I'm fine, mom, it was just a little trip." Elli reassured.

She turned around to see Laura's dark green eyes burning into hers. Elli swallowed hard and lightly touched her stitches in the back of her head.  
>"Besides, head wounds always bleed more."<p>

"She's right, you know." Her father nodded, kissing his wife on the cheek.

"Well I want you to have fun, but if you start to feel like you need to leave, feel free to excuse yourself." Her mother smiled.

An attractive couple entered the hall and eyed my father. "Ah! Mr. and Mrs. Williams!" Mr. Tanner cried.

She watched as her father walked over to greet them. Then behind them entered a tall boy. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his black tuxedo and he looked around the room. His sandy brown hair was swept neatly to the side. His eyes met Elli's and he smiled. Elli glanced at the rest of the people that were entering the building. They all stared at the boy as if he didn't belong. It almost looked like the way people looked at Jack on the movie Titanic. She turned away and looked back at her mother.

"I know that you're not of age, but you're not on any meds yet for your head and this may help a little with the sting." Her mother whispered, handing her a glass of champagne.

She laughed and took the glass. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. You've worked hard this school year and I know it's been a little rough." Mrs. Tanner walked away and to Elli's father.

Elli sipped the champagne slowly, looking at all the lovely dresses. As she wandered through the crowd, mingling with the guests, she found herself thinking of the boy at the doors. As the crowd shuffled into the dinner hall, Elli followed her parents to the largest table at the front of the room. The VIP guests only sat after the tanners did and eventually everyone was seated.

Mr. Tanner stood and held his glass. "I'd like to thank you all for coming to our annual welcome back summer dinner. It's always nice to see our dear friends and family again after our long time apart." He smiled as he made eye contact with several guests. "But first and foremost, I'd like to welcome our newest addition to our dinner this year. My daughter, Elizabeth Marie Tanner." He gestured for Elli to stand. She did as she was told.

He handed her the microphone and smiled. "Hello everyone." She smiled. "It's really great to see you all and even more wonderful to be included this year. So I'd like to propose a toast," she rose her glass and smiled proudly. "To friends,"

"To friends!" Everyone agreed.

She sat and everyone began to eat. The small talk between everyone couldn't be enjoyed by Elli, she was too busy trying not to notice the glare she was getting from Laura. As the third course was ending, Elli excused herself from the table to go to the ladies room. She walked swiftly to the doors and entered the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and examined herself. She saw no blood, though she still felt like she had a stream running down her neck. As she turned to look at her stitches, someone flushed a toilet. Elli jumped and grabbed onto the sink.

"Elli?" Shannon stood behind her, a peculiar look on her face. "What's the matter? Did she hit you?"

"No, I just needed to get out of there." Elli whispered.

"Your stitches are bleeding…" Shannon observed. She grabbed some Kleenex and got it wet. Then she slowly dabbed it on Elli's wound.

Elli winced at the cold touched and then relaxed.

"Sorry," Shannon whispered.

Amber burst through the bathroom door just as Shannon finished cleaning the blood from Elli's stitches. Amber placed her hand on her chest. "There you guys are!" She huffed. "I was worried that you were off with Laura."

Amber walked over to her friends and folded her arms across her chest. "So what are you guys doing in here?"

"Uhm, I just needed to get away from the party." Elli murmured.

Amber nodded and looked at Shannon. Shannon shrugged. "I had to pee."

The three girls laughed at her serious face. "Well we should get back…you know...to the party." Elli suggested as the laughter died down.

They left the bathroom and returned to the hall. The young adults were heading downstairs for the after party while the adults were staying upstairs to drink. The girls followed their peers downstairs and into the large dance room. It was dark with colorful, flashing lights. Everyone began to jump around to a pop song that Elli hadn't heard in a long time. Her friends all danced in a circle, laughing as Amber stumbled around in her heels.

"Alright," the dj started after an hour of fast songs. "Let's slow it down. Guys, grab a pretty girl and hold her close!"

Elli's friend were immediately claimed by their boyfriends and then Elli was left out. She smiled at her friends and wandered off the floor. As she leaned up against the wall, she saw that boy's face again. He made eye contact with her again and smiled. He approached her and Elli could feel her heart begin to pound.

"Hello," The cute, sandy brown haired boy grinned. "I'm Jason."

"Elizabeth." She smiled, detecting an accent. She shook his hand.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

Elli nodded and took his hand. She followed him onto the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"So let me guess," he started. "Vacationing with your family?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Not exactly."

"Oh really? Well, what is it then?" he smiled back.

"My dad actually…" She started, wondering why she couldn't say the truth.

"Works here?" He asked, finishing her sentence.

"I guess you could say that?" she answered.

He nodded. But before they could say anything else, the song ended and her friends snatched her away. She looked back at Jason as he became a tiny figure in the crowd. When her friends finally stopped, they were out in the hall.

"Guys!" Elli complained.

"We had to get you away from him." Shannon snapped.

"What? Why? He's nice?" Elli watched as a boy and a girl ran out of the room and down the hall.

"He's bad news…Like…seriously bad news, Elli." Amber whispered.

Elli let out a giggle. "Guys, you're just being paranoid. I'm sure he's a really nice guy."

Amber and Shannon exchanged worried glances.

"Well, I'm going to go back to the party, you guys…just relax and enjoy your dates." Elli stated. "Please, I'll be fine!"

She walked gracefully away, feeling the eyes of her friends on her back, but she knew she didn't care.

As she re-entered the room, she saw no trace of Jason. But she immediately caught sight of her sister, who was staring straight at her. Their eyes locked, but Elli quickly looked away. Her mind flashed back to the memory of being pushed by her sister, causing her stitches to throb. She went over to the drink table and grabbed a glass of punch and grabbed her clutch from the other table. She then proceeded out to go outside to get some air. She grabbed some pain pills from the bag and downed them with the punch. Elli let out a long breath and leaned against the railing.

"Ditching the party?" A voice wondered behind her.

Elli turned around to see who it was. She smiled. "Yeah,"

Jason shook his hair to the side and walked over to her. He rested his arms on the railing. "You okay? You seemed upset earlier?"

"Uh, yeah I'm fine, just my head is throbbing." Elli nodded and lightly touched the stitches.

"Whoa, what happened their?" Jason asked.

"Nothing," Elli answered quickly.

He put his hands up. "Okay, okay, you don't have to tell me."

There was a long pause. "I tripped," she blurted out suddenly.

"You tripped?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah…I tripped." Elli was embarrassed that she'd even admitted that to him, but it was too late now.

"Well if your head is hurting, I think you should go up to your room…You know, get some rest?" he suggested.

She nodded as she weighed that option. "Yeah, you're right." She turned to walk around the steps on the side of the building that would bring her back up to the regular level.

"Wait," Jason cried.

She turned around to see what he wanted. "What?"

"Can I see you again?"

She felt a small smirk come across her face. She thought of what her friends said and then realized…she didn't care again. She ran back to Jason and kissed him on the cheek. "Yes," She then pulled out a small piece of paper from her bag and scribbled her cell number on it. She handed it back to Jason and smiled. Elli turned away from him and ran up the stairs. When she turned to look at him again, he was gone.

Elli headed back into the hotel and found her parents over by the front desk. As she walked over to them, she could hear their conversation.

"I want that boy gone and I want him gone now!" her mother's frantic voice hissed.

"Mom," Elli muttered.

Her mother turned to her and smiled. "Everything's fine dear, just...go back to the party. "

"Actually I was going to go back up stairs, my head is pounding." Elli's head was now filled with thoughts of what was going on. Who was her mother talking about? Could she…no that's not possible.

"Oh…Alright." Her mother's face turned to worry.

Elli turned away from her mother and headed to the elevator.

"Elizabeth?" Her mother called.

"Yeah?" Elli turned back to see what she wanted.

"Lock your door…" her mother's eyes were filled with tears. "Please."

Elli looked back and forth. "Uhm…okay?"

Something seriously weird was going on. Her mother wanted to throw someone out of the hotel…which was totally out of character for her mother. As Elli reached her floor, she stepped out and grabbed her room key. She walked swiftly down the hall.

"Elli," a voice whispered.

She whipped around…seeing no one. As she continued down the hall to her room, something caught her eye. Elli quickly pulled her room key from her bag and started jogging down the hall. She slid the key in the slot and opened the door quickly. She flipped the lights on and before closing the door, she looked around her room, seeing no one and feeling safe, she closed the door and locked it. She tossed her clutch on the small couch in the corner of the room and opened the curtains on the wall. The moon was up and the stars were shining brightly. Elli sighed and sauntered into her bathroom. She started a bath and grabbed a small night gown. She checked the lock on the door again and then quickly undressed.

A little over an hour later, a quiet knock on her room door woke Elli up. She breathed in quickly and rubbed her eyes. She looked at the clock. It was already midnight and Elli wondered who would be knocking at her door at this time of night. There was another knock, followed by another one. Eventually the knocking got harder and harder and faster and faster. Elli's heart was pounding as she slid into her night gown and put on her robe. She slowly opened her bathroom door and quietly walked to the large door. She took a deep breath and peeked through the tiny eye hole.

Laura stood outside her door. Elli ran her fingers through her hair and felt her heart beat pick up. She watched for a while as Laura stood there. Eventually she left. Elli sighed in relief and waited for a few seconds before opening her door. She looked around the corner, but there was no one there.

As Elizabeth crawled into bed that night, there was only one thing on her mind. Jason. Her cell phone dinged on the nightstand and she picked it up and read the screen.

One New Message!

She tapped the screen and read the message.

I had fun with you tonight. How about another date?  
>Sweet dreams.<p>

-Jason

Elli smiled and hit reply.

Jason, I had great time as well. About that date, I guess we'll see ;)  
>Sweet dreams.<p>

-Elizabeth

She shut her phone off and set it on the nightstand.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
>June 6th<p>

Elizabeth walked across the hotel lobby and out the large glass doors. Dressed in a green tank and denim shorts, she was ready for the hot summer day. Her long brown hair was pulled high into a pony. The car keys in her hands clinked together and her phone was buzzing in her plaid hobo bag. As she got into her bright blue car, she pulled out the phone. There was a message from Shannon.

Hey, um... Elli where are you? Do you have any idea how worried we are? I really need to talk to you. It's an emergency. But we can't talk about it over the phone. Please get to our old tree house.

-Shannon

Elli started her car and pulled away from the hotel. When they were little, Elli and her friends had made a tree house way back in the woods. They spent hours there every day of every summer, except for the past few. She doubted that it was still stable. Then she got to thinking about how they never told anyone about the tree house. She smiled to herself and pulled onto the dirt road. When it ended, she got out of her car and locked the doors, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

She followed the small trail until she heard some talking. Elli started to run and eventually reached the large tree house. It was still there and it looked stable. She ran to the ladder and climbed up. She tossed her bag onto the floor as she hoisted herself in. Amber and Shannon were sitting in the far corner, both of them had serious looks on their faces.

"Where have you been?" Amber hissed.

Elli shrugged. "The hotel."

Shannon shook her head. "No, we knocked on your door and you didn't answer."

"When?" Elli asked.

"Last night!" Shannon snapped.

"Well I went to sleep right away…"

Her friends exchanged nervous glances.

"Look, guys, I really appreciate how concerned you are about me. But Jason is a really nice guy."

"How well do you know him?" Amber questioned.

"I don't know, I mean I just met him last night…"

"Exactly!" Shannon cut her off.

Just then, Elli's phone buzzed. She gave her friends an apologetic look and turned away from them. She pulled out her phone and pressed a button.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Uh...H-Hey…Ellizabeth?" a voice asked.

"Yeah? Who is this?"

"It's Jason…"

Elli felt her heart lift. "Hey, Jason...can I call you back?"

"Yeah, sure."

Elli hung up the phone and turned to her friends. "Look, I'll be fine."

"But—" Amber started.

"But nothing, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me!" She hugged her friends and started down the tree house.

When Elli was back in her car, she grabbed her phone and stuck it on the small Velcro patch. She hit redial.

"Hello?" Jason's voice answered.

"Hey, Jason, it's Elizabeth." She smiled at the sound of him.

"Elizabeth, hey!" he laughed.

"What'd you call for?" Elli questioned.

"Well I was wondering about that date?"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah..."

"And what about that date?" Elli's heart was pounding.

"Tonight."

"What time?" Elli was pulling into the hotel lot now.

"How about…six?" he asked.

"Sounds great."

"See you tonight." He added.

They hung up and parked her car. As she got out, her sister was leaving the hotel. Elli tried to ignore her sister as she walked toward the hotel.

"Elli!" Her sister shouted.

Elli turned and put on a fake smile. "Hey…"

"Where were you last night, I was going to bring you hot chocolate, but you didn't answer your door?" she asked.

"Oh, I was probably asleep." Elli answered.

"I see,"

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, but Elli's heart was racing the whole time.

"Listen, Elli," Her sister started. "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday…it was wrong of me to barge in and think I owned the place."

Elli felt like the wind was knocked out of her. "I don't want to talk about it."

Laura looked at Elli as if she had just called her out on something embarrassing. "Elli—"

"Laura I don't want to talk about it." Elli began to turn away.

Laura grabbed her arm. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Elli shrugged free and ran into the hotel. She darted for the elevators and pressed the button for her floor. When the doors finally opened, Elli stepped out and ran for her room. She slowed down when she felt like she wasn't being followed. She opened the door to her room and closed it behind her. Elli sat down on her bed and sighed.

Just when Elli was feeling relaxed, Laura burst through the door. "Elli you don't walk away from me when I'm in the middle of apologizing to you.

"Laura, just leave me alone." Elli warned, getting off the bed and starting toward the wall.

But Laura ignored her and continued forward.

"Laura, please, just let me be." Elli pleaded.

Laura cackled and kept walking, ignoring Elli's pleas. "Elli, you need to learn to respect your older sister. Now I just came up here to apologize for pushing you.'

Elli watched her sister's face turn from anger to remorse. She stopped backing up and stood where she was.

"Now can I have a hug from my little sister?" Laura questioned.

Elli sighed and stared at her sister.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Elli." Laura cautioned.

Elli nodded and moved over to her sister. They hugged each other and when Laura let go, she looked at Elli. "Now see, that wasn't so bad, now was it? I'm sorry about yesterday."

Elli said nothing.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Laura wondered.

"Yeah…" Elli whispered.

Laura tsked and then sighed. "I was hoping we could do something tonight. Oh well, how about tomorrow?"

Elli slightly nodded. Laura smiled and padded out of the room. When her sister was gone, Elli sighed in relief. That was the strangest thing that ever happened. Her sister was up to something, but she had no idea what it was.

Elli quickly ran to the door and locked it. She pushed the incident from her mind and proceeded to get dressed for her date. But she finished quickly and needed to find something to do. So she decided to check her email. Sadly she had none and needed to find something new to do. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand across the room. She walked over to it to see what it was. She had a new text message.

Elli, please, don't go on your date tonight.

-Shannon

Elli rolled her eyes and started to type a response.

Shannon, you guys seriously need to chill out. You have no good reason as to why I shouldn't go out with him. Now relax, he's a nice guy and I'm going to go out with him tonight.

-Elli

Elli, we seriously have reason for you not to go out with him.

-Amber

Elli sighed. "Oh my god." She muttered.

Oh really? What kind of reasons? Care to enlighten me?

-Elli

We'll tell you. Just not over text...

-Shannon

Well then you better get here soon, because my date starts in half an hour.

-Elli

She slammed her phone on the stand and opened her curtains. "They're just being overly cautious." She whispered to herself.

After a while, there was a knock on Elli's door. Shannon and Amber stepped in and sat down on Elli's bed.

"Alright," Elli started. "What's the deal?"

"Elli, it's too…we can't tell you." Shannon whispered.

Elli's phone dinged, meaning she had a call.  
>"Hello?" she answered.<p>

"Elizabeth? Hey, it's Jason."

"Hey! Are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm outside."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few." She giggled.

Elli hung up and slid her phone into her bag. "Look, I'll be fine." She hugged her friends. "I'll be back by ten, don't wait up."

Elli skipped from her room and down the hall to the elevator. She pushed the button and waited. She checked her hair in the chrome elevator doors' reflection. When the doors opened she walked quickly to the large hotel doors and made her way out. And sure enough, there was Jason. He had khaki shorts on with a blue and white striped tee. He took off the large black sunglasses and shook his hair from his eyes.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

He opened his arms and Elli lightly hugged him. "Hey, so where are we going?"

"Well I thought we could go grab something to eat?" He opened Elli's door for her. When he got in his side, he reached over the seat and grabbed something from the back.

"These are for you." He grinned a toothy grin. In his hand was a small bouquet of flowers. There were lilies and sunflowers in it.

"Awh, thanks," Elli smiled, taking the flowers. She smelled them. "They smell wonderful."

"Well you're welcome," he backed out of the hotel lot and started down the road. "I know this great place; you can get the _best _barbecue!"

"Wait, I think I know the place. Is it…Gregors?"

"That's the place!" he shouted. "You've been there?"

"Yeah, I go there every summer."

"You come here every summer?"

Elli was completely consumed by his accent. She still couldn't put her finger on what it was though. "Yeah, my dad actually…um… he owns the hotel."

Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Your dad _owns _the hotel?"

Elli nodded, feeling stupid for having even mentioned it.

"Your dad is Mr. Tanner?"

"Yes," She whispered. "Sorry I even said anything."

"Why are you sorry?" Jason asked, his face puzzled.

"Well I don't know…people treat me differently when they find out."

"Well how about this? I'm not going to treat you any differently." He smiled. "To me, you're going to be just plain, ole, Elizabeth."

She smiled to herself.

"Well…not that you're plain—"

"I get it," she laughed.

They pulled into Gregors moments later. Jason got out and opened Elli's door. They held hands as they entered the restaurant.

A younger guy led them to their table and handed them menus.

"Hello, I'm Chris and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you off with a drink?" he asked.

"I'll have a coke…" Jason glanced at Elli.

"I'll have a coke too."

The waiter nodded and walked away. "Well, Elizabeth—"

"Elli…" She interrupted. "You can call me Elli, everyone calls me Elli. I mean if you want to, it doesn't matter to me."

"I like Elizabeth." He smiled. "It's beautiful."

They looked over their menus for a while. "Well, Elizabeth, what do you suggest?"

"I think they have the best sloppy Joe."

"I don't think I've ever had a sloppy Joe…" he mused.

The waiter came back seconds later with their drinks. "Can I take your orders now?"

Elli handed him the menu. "I'll have the sloppy Joe."

Jason handed him his menu as well. "I'll have the sloppy Joe as well."

The waiter walked away. Jason looked to Elli. "Tell me about yourself."

"Hhmmm…." She went through her head to find where to start. "What do you want to know?"

He pursed his lips. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

He nodded. "When's your birthday?"

"Last month actually, May 30th."

He widened his eyes and smiled. "Well happy belated birthday!"

Elli chuckled. "Thank you."

"What do you want to do after you graduate?"

"I want to be a musician."

Jason looked stunned. "A musician?"

"Yeah, I know, it's not exactly a promising career, but it's all I'm good at." She mumbled.

"I think it's a perfect career."

Elli felt herself blush.

While they waited for their food, Jason kept the questions coming. Elli found it hard to believe how easy it was to answer such personal things. When the waiter came, Elli watched as Jason took his first bite out of his first sloppy Joe.

"This is delicious!" he exclaimed, chewing his food.

"I told you!" Elli laughed.

For the rest of the dinner, Jason kept asking more and more questions and Elli kept answering them. Eventually they finished their dinner and left the restaurant.

"Where are we going now?" Elli asked as Jason started the car.

"It's up to you." He smiled.

"Why don't we just go take a walk?" she suggested.

Jason nodded. "Alright, a walk."

Jason and Elli were quiet as they drove in the dark. As Elli looked out the window, she got to thinking. What reason would her friends have for talking about Jason like that?

After a while, Jason parked his car next to the beach. "How about we walk here?"

"Alright," Elli agreed.

What she loved the most about summer was that it could be 8:00 and still light out. The warm summer air rolled off the water. "Alright, my turn to ask the questions."

Jason nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Alright, cool. Shoot."

Elli searched her mind for something she'd been wondering. "Basics first. How old are you?'

"Eighteen."

"Ah, so I'm out with an older guy…" Elli laughed.

"Indeed you are. What else do you want to know about me?" he questioned.

"Hmmm…" Elli trailed off. "Where do you come from?"

"Where do I come from?" He repeated.

"Yeah…like your past."

Jason was silence for a moment. Then he finally spoke. "Well I'm from Australia."

"Australia? Really?" she was in awe and knew where the accent came from.

"Yes, this is my first summer in America. But I don't want to talk about me." He whispered.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"You." He murmured.

Their hands were intertwined and Elli's heart was racing. In her other hand, were her flip flops. They walked toward the water. Elli stepped in the cool ocean and felt goose bumps rise on her arms and legs.

The rest of the evening was filled with chatter about their pasts. Elli ignored her burning urge to ask him why everyone was so disgusted me. The more they talked, the more Elli became confused. Jason seemed nice enough and didn't want to listen to her friends.

On the drive back to the hotel, Elli's hand remained in Jason's. There was an electric current she felt when his skin touched her and hated the fact that they pulled into the lot, which meant she had to let go.

"I think this is your stop." Jason whispered.

"Yeah…" She sighed.

"Can we do this again?" he asked.

Elli leaned into Jason, close enough to feel his breath on her face. Just as their lips got close enough to touch, Elli pulled away and smile. "I'll get back to you."

She grabbed her flowers and hopped out of the car. When she looked back, she could have sworn she saw Jason laughing. She skipped up the steps and through the doors. As she glided through the lobby and to the elevator doors, Elli never felt so alive. She walked out of the doors and started down the hall to her room. When she entered, Shannon and Amber were crashed on the bed.

"Guys, you're still here?" Elli asked.

Amber and Shannon jumped up. "Uh…yeah…" Shannon groaned, rubber her eyes.

"Where have you been? It's ten!" Amber hollered.

"Oh he's amazing!" Elli gushed, tossing her purse on the bed.

Her friends exchanged glances. "What'd you do?"

"We went to dinner and we walked on the beach." Elli sighed, still soaring. Elli's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her purse and opened the text.

Tonight was the best night I've had in America. Hope there will be many more to come.

-Jason

"Who's it from?" Amber asked.

"Who do you think?" Shannon snapped.

Elli skipped to the bathroom and started to take her makeup off. "Oh and guys, guess what?" She poked her head out from the door. "He's not the guy you're thinking of!"

"What?" her friends asked skeptically.

"Yeah, he's from Australia, this is his first time in America!" Elli danced out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She hopped on the bed next to her friends and smiled. "He's…he's so great."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Elli, you just met him, you can't like him already!" Amber snapped.

"Oh I think it's possible." Elli sighed. "We're gonna go out again."

"Elli, he's lying to you." Shannon whispered.

"No he's not; you guys are confusing him with someone else." Elli argued.

"Elli—" Shannon started.

"No, I don't want to hear it. Tonight…tonight was the first night that I've been really happy in a long, long time. Please, just leave." Elli hissed.

Her friends gave her a look, but left anyway. She fell asleep quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
>June 7th<p>

When Elli woke up the next morning, she felt refreshed. But she also felt an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. She picked up her phone and dialed Jason.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Jason…" Elli greeted.

"Elizabeth? Hey!"

"I need to talk to you…" Elli muttered.

"okay, so let's talk?"

"No, not on the phone. Can you meet me on the dock in 20?"

"Yeah…absolutely." He answered slowly.

They hung up. Elli got dressed and brushed out her long hair. When she was decent, she left her room quickly and started toward the elevator. Elli's phone started to buzz, but she ignored it. Nothing was pressing enough to distract her. When the elevator reached the lobby, she ran out. As she ran down the steps, and to her car, Elli was pulling out her keys.

The engine roared to life. Elli backed out and drove down the road. She knew she could walk, but she needed to get there fast. As she drove, she passed several kids walking down the road with bathing suits on and carrying tubes. Elli needed to know the truth about Jason and what was going on. She saw his car as she pulled into the beach and felt her heart start to race. Elli stepped out of her car and walked toward the dock.

Jason was standing at the end of the dock. He was leaning up against it, his sandy brown hair blowing in the breeze. She started to walk faster and eventually started jogging to him. Jason turned around and smiled.  
>"Hey there!" he grinned.<p>

Elli smiled back. "Hi,"

Jason kissed her on the cheek and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just, there's some things I need to ask you." She answered.

"Alright, shoot."

"Okay, my friends know about us," she started, staring into Jason's beautiful blue eyes. "They're worried…"

"About what?" Jason's face was puzzled.

"They think that you're lying to me about something…about your past." Elli was fidgeting with her fingers as she forced the words out.

Jason sighed and rubbed his face. "I knew this was coming." He muttered.

"Jason," Elli looked up at him. "Please tell me their wrong."

"Elli, I wish I could," he sighed and leaned over the rail of the dock.

"What is it then?"

"This isn't my first summer in America, a couple years ago I came here with some friends. We got really drunk and well…let's just say I had a go around with your dad."

Elli felt her knees go weak. She was so terribly confused, she's been here every summer, why couldn't she remember this?

"I tried to steal some of the artwork in the lobby so I could turn it in for cash and I broke some of the vases. Greg, one of the guys I was with, pulled the fire alarm. It was complete chaos and before I knew it, Greg fired shots at a few guests. Your dad called the cops and I had to spend the night I jail. But they couldn't keep me because I was a miner and so I spent the last year and a half in juvey." Jason glanced over at Elli.

"Oh my god." Was all she could whisper. The memories began to come back to her.

Suddenly she was back in the summer of 2007. She stood outside with Shannon, Amber, and Anna. They were all huddled together in their night gowns. Everyone was exhausted because it was 2:30 in the morning and they watched as the police ran into the hotel. When they came out, Elli saw a younger Jason being led out in handcuffs. And then Jason looked at her, making direct eye contact. Then she saw three people being carried out stretchers.

When the memory ended, Elli realized that she was right in a way. She'd never met Jason, but she had seen him before.

"Elli, talk to me." Jason pleaded.

"Don't call me Elli!" she screamed, slapping Jason across the face.

Jason didn't flinch when she did so. Elli ran down the dock, but was not alone. Jason was running close behind her. "Elizabeth, please!" he cried. "I'm sorry!"

"Leave me alone!"

Elli ran back to her car, tears streaming down her face. As she got in, she covered her face and began to sob. She was so consumed in her cries that the knock on the window caused her to jump. Jason was standing next to her window. His face was twisted in agony. "Please," he mouthed.

Elli started the car and backed away. As she drove away from the beach, she watched as Jason's figure grew smaller and smaller. Soon he wasn't visible at all. She pulled into the lot of the hotel a few minutes later. As she pulled into her spot, she grabbed her mirror. She wiped away some of the mascara lines and stepped out of the car. She ducked her head and ran into the hotel.

Once in her room, Elli slammed the door and locked it. She closed the curtains and shut off the lights. She wanted to be left in complete darkness.

"Elli?" someone called out, knocking on her door. "Elli? Please, it's Shannon and Amber, please let us in."

Elli stood slowly and walked over to her door. She unlocked it and opened it. Her friends stood there, their faces concerned. When they saw Elli, they immediately knew what happened. "Oh no Elli, you found out?" Amber whispered.

Elli nodded and turned, starting for the bed. She crawled under the covers and stared at the ceiling. She's never felt so hurt. Her friends lay down on the bed on either side of her and stroked her arms.  
>"Why didn't you just tell me?" Elli whispered.<p>

"We thought you needed to hear it from him." Shannon answered.

"I'm sorry." Elli whispered. "I should have believed you guys."

"Don't worry about that now, it's done and over with. It's time that we spend this summer together." Amber shrugged.

"What about your boyfriends?" Elli muttered.

Shannon and Amber gave each other a look. "That's over."

"What happened?"

"Dumped him, he was making out with the check out girl at Barnes and Noble." Shannon rolled her eyes.

"Oh and get this," Amber started. "Mine was dating the same girl."

They all laughed, but Elli stopped sooner. "I want to be alone now." Elli whispered.

"Okay, call us if you need anything." Amber smiled lightly.

When her friends were gone, Elli rolled over.

A few hours later, when she woke up, Elli rolled over. Her phone was on the little nightstand next to her bed. Its screen was lit up.

4 New Messages:

Elli pressed the first one and read it.

Elizabeth, please, I really want to talk to you. I can explain all this.

-Jason

She rolled her eyes and pressed the next one.

Elizabeth, come on, I'm so sorry.

-Jason

She felt the tears burn behind her eyes. She pressed the last one.

Please, Elizabeth, I'm really sorry, I want to make this right. I know I really messed up.

-Jason

As she closed the last message, the tears came harder. She cried for a while and then realized that she needed to get over this. She called down and ordered room service. Then she hesitated, but eventually called Laura.

"Hello?" Laura answered.

"Hey, Laura, it's Elli."

"Hey! What's up?" Laura's voice was cheerful.

"Wanna come watch a movie in my room?" Elli asked.

"Sure, when?"

"Now…if you can."

"Alright! I'll be there in a few!" Laura hung up.

As Elli tossed her phone back on her bed, she quickly washed off her makeup smears. When she came out, someone knocked on her door. She opened it up and saw Laura standing there. She smiled and hugged Elli.

"Do you mind if I call Shannon and Amber?" Elli asked.

"Not at all, it'll be fun!" Laura sauntered into Elli's room and plunked herself down on her bed.

After a while, Shannon and Amber came and they all sat down. Laura walked out of the bathroom and smiled at Shannon and Amber. Shannon and amber shot Elli a look when they saw her.

"Okay, I'm just going to get the awkward elephant out of the room." Elli started. "Okay, Shannon, Amber, I know you don't want me around Laura after what happened. But Laura has apologized to me for what she did and it won't happen again."

"Yeah, guys I'm really sorry that happened. I don't know what came over me." Laura smiled.

There were a lot of choices, but they all ended up picking Dear John and Remember Me as their movies to watch. Amber and Shannon looked at Laura the entire time, waiting for her to snap again and hurt Elli. It was one of the most uncomfortable times of Elli's life, but it got her mind off of Jason.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
>June 7-14<p>

In the days that followed, Elli avoided Jason like the plague. He left her voice mails and texts. They all asked her to at least talk to him. She ignored them all and after a week things started to go back to normal. She and her friends went out for smoothies daily. They did anything to keep Elli's mind off of Jason and it was working. They all hung out in their old tree house, talking about old times and laughing at Shannon when she practically jumped out the window when a little spider crawled across her foot.

"No, no you remember that time when—" Elli laughed, holding her soda. "When—"

They all started to laugh even harder. "When Kevin fell out of that tree a few miles away—" Shannon laughed.

"Oh gosh, he was trying to get our beach ball from it!" Amber finished.

"Yeah!" Elli laughed, her pop spilling all over her arm. "Why in the hell was our beach ball up there anyway?"

"I think we were just looking for an excuse to talk to him." Amber answered.

"Yeah," Elli sighed.

They all let out a big sigh. Then they looked at each other for a moment. Before they knew it, they were all rolling. They were on their backs laughing so hard that Shannon's pop ran out her nose, which caused them to laugh even harder.

"Guys it's not funny!" Shannon squeaked.

Elli and Amber laughed anyway.

"Dude this fricking burns!" Shannon squealed.

When she calmed down, they looked at each other again, but it was no use, they started laughing anyway. As the laughter died down, Elli's sides hurt. But she didn't care, this was the best time she'd had since she'd gotten here.

"Oh remember Lindsey from down the street?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah! I remember her!" Elli shouted.

"Everyone was so mean to her." Amber sighed.

"Well we weren't." Shannon argued.

"Until we invited her to go swimming." Elli giggled.

"Hey! Technically that wasn't our fault!" Shannon added.

"Yes it was!" Amber snapped.

"How so?" Elli asked.

"Shannon, you untied her bikini!" Amber yelled.

Shannon started laughing. "Well I didn't see the big reveal, I mean deal."

Elli couldn't control her giggles.

"You guys, that was so mean. You revealed Lindsey's boobs to the whole town!"

"OH like she had any!" Elli laughed.

"Well still," Amber snapped.

The girls all climbed down from the tree house and started back to the hotel. They threw pinecones at each other as they left the trail  
>When they got back, Elli turned to her friends.<p>

"You guys wanna go hang out in the hot tub?" Elli asked.

Shannon and Amber looked at each other nervously. "Well…we kind of made plans…" Amber said slowly.

"Oh, cool! That's okay." Elli assured. "I've been meaning to take a long walk around town. I haven't done that yet."

"You sure?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah, totally, you guys go!"

Her friends ran into the hotel to get ready. Elli turned for the street. She walked down the sidewalk, looking for the old bridge they used to throw rocks off of. She must have searched over an hour for that bridge. She couldn't find it, but she saw their old tree swing and where they used to carve drawings into trees. The sky grew darker and darker as the day went on. But before she knew it, it was pouring.

"Come on!" She muttered.

She crossed her arms and ducked her head as she walked quickly through the rain. Her green tank top was sticking to her body from the rain, showing a little bit of her red polka dotted bra. Her hair became wet and heavy as the drops fell harder. As she walked, a car came up a little ways behind her. She turned her head to glance at it.

The car stopped and the driver got out. Elli started walking a little faster.

"Elli?" The driver yelled.

Elli whipped around to see who was talking to her. Jason stood there, already soaked from the rain. He had a black jean jacket on with a black t-shirt and faded jeans. She felt her heart skip a beat. It'd been only a week, but it was a long week for Elli.

"Elli, I'm sorry." Jason cried.

"For what?" Elli screamed.

"I'm sorry for lying. I just wanted to…I wanted us to…I was scared that you wouldn't give me a chance if you knew!"

"So what? Was this your plan? Make me fall for you to get back at my dad or something?"

Jason just stood there and shook his head.

"No? Well it's too late for that!" Elli turned away.

"Elli please," Jason cried.

Elli ignored him and kept walking.

"Elli," He tried. "I'm in love with you."

Her heart stopped. She turned to him. "You love me?"

He nodded, squinting in the rain. "Elli I've been thinking about you all week. You have no idea."

Elli realized that none of it mattered. Seeing him standing there, his hair soaked from the rain, she knew. She was in love with Jason and that was all. She ran to him and jumped. He held her and their lips met. Their lips moved in perfect sync. He held her close as they kissed. When they pulled apart, Elli looked into his blue eyes.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered as she leaned to kiss him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
>June 14<p>

Elli looked down at their hands. Her hand was in Jason's, who was driving her back to the hotel at the very second. He lifted their hands and placed a gentle kiss on hers. She smiled at him and leaned over and kissed his cheek. She had so many emotions now, she knew this was wrong. She knew that when her family found out, they'd be hurt and may even disown her. But as she looked at Jason, his hair dripping from the rain, she knew only one thing to be certain. One thing that outweighed the bad.  
>She loved him.<p>

As Jason pulled into the hotel lot, Elli felt a rush of sadness come over her. But she also felt relief. She and Jason had made up and she'd never felt so alive. She leaned over and hugged Jason.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She whispered.

Jason kissed the top of her head. "I'll see you tomorrow."

They let go and Elli got out of the car. She shut the door and started walking. It was still raining and she was still cold. "Elli!" Jason hollered.

She turned around. He stuck his finger out the window and motioned for her to come back. She ran back to the car. "You may want this." He smiled.

Jason handed her an umbrella. Elli smiled and took the umbrella. Elli ran back to the hotel, holding the umbrella over her head. It was pretty pointless, she was already soaked. When she entered the hotel, her parents were standing at the front desk. They looked over at her, their faces overwhelmed with shock.

"Elizabeth, where…who…What happened to you?" Her mother shrieked.

"Uh…I went for a walk and it started raining." She answered quietly.

"Well you look awful wet for someone who had an umbrella." Her father observed.

"Yeah, well I didn't have this when I went for the walk."

"Where'd it come from then?"

"A friend saw me walking in the rain and stopped. They gave me a ride back here and gave me the umbrella for the walk in."

"Well that was awful generous." Her mother added.

"Yeah, well I think I'm gonna go take a hot shower." Elli smiled. She kissed her mom and dad goodnight.

Once in her room, Elli turned on the steaming shower. She grabbed a night shirt and re-entered the bathroom. She shuddered when she felt the hot water hit her, but soon relaxed.  
>Elli replayed that night over and over in her head. She and Jason had their first kiss. And it couldn't have been more magical. But there was something on its way that was going to be…a little less magical. She had to tell Shannon and Amber, the two girls she cared about most in her life. Shannon and Amber wouldn't take it well and they certainly wouldn't support her. But something told Elli, that's okay. Elli knew in her heart that this was right.<p>

As Elli crawled into bed, she grabbed her phone. It was only ten and she was sure her friends would be back by now. She dialed Shannon's number. It rang and rang and eventually went to her voicemail.

"Hey, you've reached Shannon, I can't pick up right now so hey…I guess leave me a message!" the recording answered.

"Hey, Shannon, you're probably with Amber right now. I guess call me when you guys get this. I've got something I need to tell you."

She ended the call and turned on her television. As she flipped through channels, she found that she couldn't keep her mind off of Jason. She was feeling especially rebellious and decided to give him a call.

"Jason?" She asked as soon as it stopped ringing.

"Elli? What's up?" he asked.

"Come see me." She commanded.

"What?" He laughed.

"Come see me." She repeated.

"You're serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" She laughed.

"Elli, it's after ten."

"You don't think I know that? But I don't care, I want to see you."

"Elli…how am I going to get past your parents?" his voice was concerned.

"Well…" Elli paused, looking for an answer. "Hang on."

"What?"

"Just wait." She left her phone on the bed and left the room. She tiptoed to the elevator and pressed the floor number. She'd see if her parents were in the lobby, and if they weren't, she'd ask Anna where they went. When the doors opened, she didn't see her parents. She ran to the desk and smiled at Anna.

"Hey, do you know where my parents are?"

Anna was flipping through a Goth magazine, chewing bubble gum. "Nope."

"Well do you know when they'll be back?"

"Nope." Anna snapped her gum.

"Alright, thanks." Elli sprinted away from the desk and back into the elevator.

Moments later, when she was back in her room, she picked her phone back up.

"Jason?"

"Yeah? Where'd you go?"

"My parents aren't here, come on!"

"Uhm, alright, I'll be there in a little bit." He chuckled and hung up.

Elli fell onto her bed. She paced back and forth for a while, waiting for Jason to get there. Then something dawned on her. But before the thought was finished, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, Elli…What's your room number?"

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot. It's 349—" There was a knock on her door.

"Yeah I thought so."

Elli answered her door, but when she opened it, there was Jason.

Elli grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room. They closed the door. "How'd you know this was my room?" She laughed.

"Lucky guess!" he picked her up and kissed her. "Well you know the truth about me now. So I guess I can tell you more."

Elli looked at him, her eyes filled with worry. "What else is there?"

Elli lay down on the bed and Jason lay down next to her. "Well, I'm from Australia, you know that though." He paused. "I'm staying with my aunt and uncle this summer. My parents think that it would do me some good to…get back in the area and try to mend some bridges I broke a couple years ago."

"When do you leave?"

"August tenth." He sighed.

Elli counted the days in her head. "But that's…" she finished on her fingers. "That's 57 days away!"

"I know," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I know. But let's not think about that."

She nodded. "Tell me more. Do you have any siblings?"

"Did…"

"Did?"

"Yeah…well I guess in a sense I still do, but I don't know. It's complicated."

"What do you mean?" Elli asked.

"My sister's been missing since 2007." Jason mumbled.

"What?" Elli's voice cracked. "Jason, I'm so sorry!"

"It's my fault though. The night she was seen last was the night after I was busted. She and I were really close and she told my parents she was taking a walk." Jason rubbed his eyes and then sighed. "I came home that night and slept in my bed. I woke up the next morning and ran down stairs. I wanted to apologize to my parents and most to my sister. When she saw me in that cruiser, her face was twisted with pain. I got downstairs and saw my mom on the couch. She was doubled over, with hysterical sobs. My father was rubbing small circles on her back. When I looked across the room, I saw a man in a dark brown suit. He was scribbling into his notepad and looked directly at me when I entered." Jason looked up at the ceiling.

"What happened to her?" Elli whispered.

"I asked what was going on and my dad took me into his office. 'Sit down son,' he instructed. His eyes were red and puffy and it was then that I knew something was wrong. He told me that my sister was missing. I didn't believe him at first. I told him that he was lying and that she'd be home soon." Jason's eyes were wet with tears.  
>"We called all of her friends and none of them knew where they were. I got on my bike and road through town, looking for some trace of her. But I knew my sister better. She loved the woods at night. I knew where she was, or so I thought. I left my bike next to the entrance of a trail that she and I always explored. I walked around, looking for her for hours. And then I found it." He whispered.<p>

Elli waited for him to continue.

Jason took a deep breath. "On the trail, near the creek…I found something of hers." Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. "Christy always wore this silver juicy couture bracelet that my dad bought her after she got an A on her pre-algebra quiz. It was wedged between two rocks. The chain was snapped and when I looked closer…it was covered in blood. The rock had drops of blood on it and there was a trail of blood leading to the river." Jason looked over at Elli and then sat up. He moved to the edge of the bed and put his face in his hands.

"You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." She whispered.

Jason shook his head. "No I need to talk about this." He sighed. "I took the bracelet home, careful not to touch much of it because of possible prints. When I got home, I ran into the house. My parents weren't around so I yelled for them. My mom came downstairs with my dad. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I found something. I gave her the bracelet. She asked what it was but my dad knew what it was right away. He took the bracelet and lost it. He fell to his knees and started screaming 'my little girl, my little girl!' we just all sat on the floor, crying together."

"Her name was Christy?" Elli murmured.

Jason nodded.

"We sent in the bracelet for testing, praying it wasn't her blood. But we all knew the answer. When the lab results came back, we all sat down as a family. Detective Gray sat across from us. He read off the lab report and confirmed that it was Christy's blood on the bracelet. My mother was the first to lose it. My dad and I knew that we needed to hold it together for her and we did our best, but my sister was my best friend." He sighed and pursed his lips. "The whole town was searching for her, there were posters up everywhere. I'm kind of surprised that you weren't one of them."

"My parents made me leave early that summer. Because of…well you know." Elli answered.

"Oh, well, eventually, Christy's case became a cold case. If they don't have a lead within the first 48 hours, the chance of them finding out what happened or catching the murderer decreases by half. To everyone else, Christy was just a thing of the past, something that brought tourists to the town. When the time came, my family and I decided that we needed to just go back to Australia and get on with life. None of us wanted to forget Christy, but we had to move on. And that's just what we did. Life went on and we didn't talk about Christy." He sighed. "I used to go back to the creek and sit on the rocks, just thinking. I'd wonder what happened to her."

Elli felt incredible grief for Jason and his family. "I'm really sorry Jason. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Elli kissed his cheek.

"That's why I'm back this summer. I'm here to try to get over what happened." Jason stood up. "But I guess I've gotten a little side-tracked." He smiled at Elli.

She stood and wrapped her arms around him.

"Elli!" someone outside the room yelled. Shannon and Amber burst through the door. "What's the—"

Shannon stopped talking when she saw Jason. "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I'm here with my girlfriend." Jason answered calmly.

Elli's friends looked at her. "What is he talking about, Elli?" Amber questioned.

"He told me what happened and I decided to give him another chance." Elli answered.

"Elli are you crazy? He _killed _someone!" Shannon yelled.

"I did not!" Jason argued.

"Oh please, the whole town has been talking about how you," Shannon marched up to him. "Killed your little sister two summers ago. So how'd you do it, huh? Did you, oh I don't know, slit her throat? Push her off a cliff? Smash her head with a rock and bury her somewhere—"

"Shannon!" Elli screamed. "Why are you doing this?"

Shannon stared at her friend. "Elli, you're crazy if you believe that he had nothing to do with his sister's murder."

"We don't know that she was murdered." Elli folded her arms across her chest. "And besides, you have _no right_ to barge in here and accuse Jason of murder."

"Oh please, her blood was found all over those rocks and not to mention her bracelet." Shannon nodded at Jason.

"You are such a bitc—"

"Elli," Jason grabbed Elli's hand and held her back. "Just forget about it."

"Get out of my room." Elli hissed.

"Elli!" Amber snapped.

"Get the _hell _ out of my room!" Elli screamed.

"What is going on in here?" another voice piped in. Laura stood in the doorway, her lips pressed into a hard line. "You, what are _you _doing here?" she snapped, staring at Jason.

Jason stood motionless and then cleared his throat. "Laura, I was uh…just…"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Elli asked.

"Yeah, we know each other." Laura answered, annoyance colored her tone. "But I guess I just didn't know you two knew each other."

"We're kind of…"

"They're dating." Shannon interrupted.

"What?" Laura said flatly.

"Jason you should probably go." Elli whispered.

"I think that's only best." Laura hissed. "You wouldn't want my father catching you, who by the way, is down in the lobby. You may want to jump out the window."

"That's enough!" Elli screamed. "Come on, Jason, I'll help you get out."

Jason took her hand and they left the room.

"Jason," Elli started, once they were standing in front of the elevators. "I'm really sorry. They had no right to do that to you."

The doors opened and they entered the elevator. Jason pulled Elli into him and kissed her lips. She kissed him back and ran her fingers through his sandy brown hair. When they broke apart, Jason's eyes were bloodshot. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's not your fault."

The doors opened seconds later. Elli stepped out and peered around the corner to look for her parents. They weren't there so she motioned for Jason to leave.  
>Once outside, Jason and Elli stood next to his car. "Thank you…for coming over." Elli whispered.<p>

"Well thank you for listening…to everything." Jason kissed her cheek and got in his car.

Elli watched as he drove away and turned back to the hotel. Now she had to face her sister and friends.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
>June 14-15<p>

"Can you guys just tell me what you guys are so freaked about? I told you that he told me everything and that we're working past it." Elli snapped.

Her sister and friends were scattered throughout the room. "Elli, you don't understand! Jason _killed _his sister!"

"He. Did. Not!" Elli screamed. "No, you know what? I don't need this. Just get out of my room."

"Elli we are your friends, we're trying to _protect _you!" Amber cried.

"If you were really my friends, you'd support me and who I love!"

"Oh give it a rest, Elli," Laura rolled her eyes. "The truth will come out eventually. You will see the truth and Jason will be behind bars."

Laura and Elli's friends shuffled out of the room for the night.

June 15

When Elli rolled out of bed the next morning, she felt everything _but _rested. She'd tossed and turned the entire night, realizing that she got the one person she wanted most in life. But Elli also knew that she may very well have lost her friends in the process.  
>Elli dressed quickly and ran from her room to the elevator. Elli looked down at her disaster of an outfit and sighed. She didn't care though. She needed to be with her friends right now and she needed to try to get them back. When the doors opened, Elli's eyes darted back and forth, searching for her friends. She ran into the breakfast buffet to see if by chance they were in there eating.<br>She was wrong. Her friends weren't in there. Elli had a hunch though; she thought maybe she knew where they were. She darted outside and to her car. She started the engine and backed out and sped down the road. Elli stopped the car at the start of the trail that led to the tree house. Elli ran down the trail in search of her friends. She climbed up the tree house's ladder and peeked inside. Nothing.

Once back in her car, Elli pulled out her phone. She dialed Jason's number.

"Good morning beautiful." Jason's voice rang.

Elli smiled and wiggled with joy. "Hi, I was wondering if we could do something today?"

"Well of course!" Jason answered quickly. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Do you have a bike?"

"I do…" Jason's voice was confused.

"Great, meet me two blocks from the hotel." She hung up before he could argue.

Elli raced home to get her bike. When she parked her car in the garage, her mother was coming outside.

"Elizabeth?" her mother asked.

"Yeah mom?" Elli answered, wheeling her bike out. She climbed on the seat and biked over to her mom.

"Where are you going?" her mother asked. "You haven't touched your bike in years."

Elli shrugged. "I'm not allowed to exercise?"

Elli peddled away from her mom and into the street. Two blocks from the house was a bench, the place where she'd told Jason to meet her. She sat down and waited. She watched as people passed her, some occasionally saying hello. Sometimes she wished she could just move here and forget about Iowa completely.  
>As promised, Jason appeared on the hill with his bike. He peddled faster when he saw Elli waiting. When he reached her, he hopped off his bike and picked Elli up, twirling her around. He set her down and smiled.<p>

"So, where are we biking?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'm going to be really gutsy and just come out and ask." Elli twiddled her thumbs. "Can you take me to…you know…"

Jason stared at her for a moment, but then his expression softened. "You mean where Christy…"

"Yes." she whispered.

Jason nodded and got on his bike. "Let's go."

Elli followed Jason as he led her through the streets. He didn't say much, but Elli felt bad for asking. But after Jason said that he needed to talk about this, she thought that maybe this would be a good way for him to get closure. He hadn't been back to the creek where he found her bracelet in such a long time. If Elli could find a way for Jason to reconnect with his sister, even if only once, she thought this would be the place.

Jason stopped at a trail and got off his bike. He stood there, staring at it, not even moving. He had his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Elli got off her bike and slowly walked up to Jason. She stood next to him and looked up at him. His eyes were wet and he quickly wiped away a tear before it fell. Elli took his hand and smiled lightly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

Jason nodded. "Yeah," he said sighing. "I need to."

Jason led Elli through the trail. He was exceptionally quiet as they walked and Elli understood why. She didn't speak as they walked. Elli knew how uncomfortable and hard this was for Jason to do. After all, his sister may have been murdered in this very spot.  
>Jason stopped at an opening in the trees. "This is it."<p>

He and Elli walked closer to the water. Elli stood back while Jason walked even closer. He sat down on a rock and stared at the water. Elli stood up farther, letting him have his space. Jason doubled over, Elli saw Jason cry for the first time. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know if she should go down there and comfort him.  
>Elli eventually moved slowly down to where Jason was sitting. She sat down on the rock behind him. She leaned forward and wrapped her hands around him. She kissed the back of his head. "Are you okay?" she whispered.<p>

Jason didn't answer her. He put his head in his hands. "God, Christy, what _happened _to you?" he whispered.

They sat there for a long time, not talking. Elli held Jason while he tried to hide his emotions. Eventually he sat up and took a deep breath. He let out a small laugh. "I imagine you must have some questions about this place."

Elli didn't answer.

"It's okay, you can ask them. I'm fine now. It's just a little….it was just a little overwhelming to be back here."

"This is going to sound really…morbid. But did they…look here for her?" she asked slowly.

"Hardly. They said that she was most likely in the river and that there was no other place. Everyone looked in the woods and they had divers down in the river to look for her. But they never found her body."

Elli nodded and looked at the water and then she looked down at the large rock they were sitting on and then she had a thought. "Jason, I'm really sorry to ask this…but…" she trailed off, to worried to ask.

"Did they look under this rock?" he finished her question. "No, they didn't. We asked them to, but they said there was no humanly way possible that someone would be able to lift the rock, bury someone, and get the rock in the exact position that it was originally in. It would always be lopsided. And I'm afraid to look myself."

Elli shifted uncomfortably. The thought that they may be sitting on his sister's body was too much.

"I'm so scared that we're sitting on her." He sighed. "I can't believe that I said that."

"Did you ever think about looking?" Elli asked quietly.

Jason nodded. "I tried, but the rock is too big for me to move alone. I've never had the guts to ask someone to help me move it."

"Do you…want to?" Elli asked.

A few joggers ran by on the trail. Elli glanced at them and wondered what they were thinking.

"Want to what? Move the rock?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I'll…help you if you want to." Elli felt awkward for offering, but she also felt a little better.

Jason sighed and stood up. He rubbed his face and stepped into the water. "Elli, if Christy is really…" he shook his head. "If she is really down there…I don't want to expose you to something like that. It's been two years."

"I'd do it for you." She whispered. Jason turned around. "I love you Jason, I'd do that for you."

Jason stared at the rock for a long time and then dropped to his knees. He stood back up and grabbed a stone and whipped it back into the water. "I'll kill him!" he bellowed. "I'll kill whoever did this to you Christy!"

Elli walked up to him and wrapped her arms around Jason's waist. He held her arms and turned around. He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her. "Thank you, but I can't ask you to do something like that." He looked at the rock and then back at Elli. "Let's get out of here."

He walked up to their bikes and stood his up. Elli glanced at the rock, one last time. She wondered if she was really down there and if she'd ever be found.

"I want to show you something." Elli stated.

They were close to the hotel now and she turned off on to the grass. She peddled until she got to the barn. Then she continued until they got to a trail. Jason stopped behind her.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You brought me somewhere personal, now I want to bring _you _somewhere personal." She got off her bike and he got off his.

She took his hand and led him through the woods. As they walked, Elli thought about how she'd never brought someone out here. Part of her was disappointed that she wasn't going to be the only one who knew, but the other part was ecstatic that it was going to be Jason that knew about this.

Eventually, they reached the destination. Elli motioned with her arms to the hammock and to the creek. Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. "Wow." He laughed.

"It's more than just some stupid hammock." She rolled her eyes.

Elli ran to the hollowed out tree and pulled away the bush in front of it. She pulled out the guitar and sat down on the hammock.

"I get the honor of hearing you play?" he asked, taking a seat next to her.

"Well aren't you just a lucky guy?" Elli laughed. "I only remember one of my songs, the rest I need the music for and that's back in my room at the hotel."

"Let's hear it!" he smiled a glorious smile.

Elli started playing the cords to the song. She gently sang the lyrics along with it, feeling self conscious. When she looked up at Jason, he was smiling at her. She sang a little bit louder and then a little bit louder. As the song came to the chorus, she was feeling even more confident. She belted out the words with passion and ease.  
>The song came to a close and her playing slowed down. When the song ended, Elli looked at Jason. His eyes were bright and he was smiling from ear to ear.<p>

"What'd you think?" she asked.

"You're brilliant, amazing!" he answered.

"Thanks, I mean it's not finished and it's probably never going to be heard by anyone—"

Jason pulled her in for a kiss. He held her face as their lips pressed together. When he pulled away he looked deep into her eyes. "It's perfect, _you're _perfect."

Elli smiled and felt herself blush and leaned into him. "I'm glad I met you this summer."

"Me too," he sighed.

"Jason," Elli whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I'm very serious about looking under that rock." Elli said seriously.

Jason sighed and stood up. "Elli," he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm very serious about not wanting to expose you to something like that."

"Jason, I can handle it!" she cried.

"Elli," Jason turned around and gave her a serious look. "Do you have _any _idea what she looks like now? Or…god I can't believe I'm even saying this…or _smells _like now?"

Elli walked over to Jason and placed a hand on his cheek. "Jason, this is your sister we're talking about. I think…closure is more important than anything."

Jason hugged Elli. "I know, and I appreciate that you want me to have closure, you have no idea how…comforting that sounds. My parents need closure, I think, more than I do."

"Why's that? She _was _your sister."

"Yes, I know but people used to say stuff to my parents. My mom was going through the grocery store one day when a neighbor stopped her to offer her condolences. When she walked away, my mom heard the lady talking to someone she was with and she said 'oh well, she still has another one.'"

"Jason, that's terrible!" Elli gasped, totally shocked.

He shrugged and nodded. "Even if we do find her…I'm always going to be the brother who supposedly murdered his sister."

"You mean…people still think that?"

"Yeah, haven't you noticed the looks we get when we go out?"

Elli shook her head. "No…guess not."

"Well there are a lot of them."Jason looked away briefly. "But we both have limited time left together, the last thing we should be doing is worrying about the past."

Elli nodded. "Hey, we still have to tell my parents about us."

Jason made a face. "That could be very dangerous."

"Could be? I think you need to wear some underarmer."

Jason laughed wrapped his arm around Elli; he kissed her head and led her out of the woods.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
>June 15<p>

"Okay, just be polite and don't bring up the…well…you know." Elli instructed, fixing Jason's bow tie.

As Elli led Jason into the hotel, the last few hours went through her mind. After Jason left, Elli ran to her parents and told them that they needed to meet someone. She told them she wanted them to meet her boyfriend at dinner. They'd been excited to meet him, seeing as she'd never really had many boyfriends.

Elli looked down at their hands. Jason's hand was gripping Elli's, squeezing harder with every step. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean…what if they don't like me?"

"What's not to like?" Elli asked.

Jason stopped and gave her a look. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Jason, just don't even bring it up." Elli sighed. "There they are…are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Jason put on a brave face as they entered the dining room.

Elli's parents stood up and smiled as they entered the room. But as they looked at Jason, their faces fell. Jason smiled and led Elli to their seats.  
>"Mom, dad, this is Jason Mitchell." Elli smiled as she introduced her boyfriend.<p>

Jason smiled and reached out to shake Mr. Tanner's hand, but Mr. Tanner ignored the gesture and sat down. Jason withdrew his hand awkwardly and pulled out Elli's chair for her. Once he sat, Elli smiled comfortingly at him.

Mrs. Tanner cleared her throat. "So, Jason, did you tell Elizabeth about your…"

"Yes, mother, he did. And," Elli sighed, feeling insulted by her parents rudeness. "I'm okay with it."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. "Elizabeth," Mrs. Tanner began. "Maybe you could give me a hand with dinner?"

"But isn't that Thomas or Drake's—"

"Kitchen, please." Mrs. Tanner ordered.

Elli stood and followed her mother into their own personal kitchen. Elli leaned against the counter and folded her arms across her chest.

"Are you crazy?" Mrs. Tanner hissed.

"Well if you mean crazy in the sense meaning crazy about him, then yes."

"Elizabeth Marie Tanner, do you have _any _clue as to what that boy has done in the past two years?" Mrs. Tanner roared.

"Yes mom, I do, and guess what?" Elli fired back. "I'm okay with it. He told me the truth and he's grown up a lot."

Mrs. Tanner pursed her lips and grabbed a can of tomato sauce. She started to open it and pour it into a pot.

"Mom, I'll be fine. Please, please don't mess this up for me."

There was no answer.

"I'm going back out there, please be a little pleasant." Elli turned for the door, her Jimmy Choos clicking on the tiles.

When she came through the kitchen doors, Jason stood up and smiled. "Is everything alright?" He whispered in her ear as they sat down.

"Yes, everything is fine." She whispered back.

When Elli's mom came back into the room, Elli averted her eyes. As the meals were served, everyone began to eat in silence. The tension was unbearable and Elli was aware of how uncomfortable Jason was. Suddenly, Jason stood up and cleared his throat.

"I'm just going to approach the big elephant in the room." He stated.

"Jason…" Elli warned.

"No, Elli, I love you." He put his hands together. "And I _want _to have a decent relationship with your parents. And we can't do that if none of us are willing to talk about what's on everyone's minds. Now can we talk about it?"

Mr. and Mrs. Tanner exchanged stunned glances. Mr. Tanner stood. "Alright, son, sit down and we'll talk."

"Thank you." Elli whispered. Jason's hand was squeezing hers as they walked across the lobby. He lifted her hand and placed a kiss on it.

They entered the elevators and pressed the number for Elli's floor. After Jason took charge at dinner, the tension lifted and it was as though a major storm between he and Elli's parents was beginning to clear. They weren't completely out of the woods yet, but they were far enough that their relationship could continue without sneaking around.

"I guess this is it." Jason sighed, leaning against the door frame of Elli's room.

"You could come in…if you want?" She offered.

Jason looked down at his watch and sighed again. "No, I better not."

Elli's shoulders dropped in disappointment.

Jason gently pushed her chin up to have her look in his eyes. "Believe me, I want to. But…" He looked down the hall. "I'm finally not the person your family hates the _most_."

"Oh you're right, that would be Aunt Judy." Elli laughed.

"Let's just take this slow? Kay?" he pleaded.

"What do you mean by slow?"

"I mean that we should respect your parents' wishes and make sure that we obey them."

Elli nodded, understanding where he was coming from, but still feeling disappointed. "Alright," she reached up and kissed his cheek.

Jason wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips. When they broke apart, he smiled and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight." He whispered.

She opened the door and turned to look back at him. "Love you,"

"Love you too," he smiled and with that, he made his way down the hall.

Elli locked the door behind her and tossed her bag on the table. Her hair was tied up in a curly bun. She pulled out the pins that held it up and shook out her hair. Then she slipped out of her strapless ivory dress and kicked off her shoes. She wrapped her body in a warm robe and walked over to the wall that was entirely windows. As she looked down, she saw Jason, one hand shoved deep into his pocket and the other swinging his car keys on his index finger, walking to his sleek black car. He stepped in the car and backed out of the lot. Elli took a deep breath and closed the curtains and slipped into a nighty. She knew what she had to do now, she had to call her friends. And she knew that it would be hard. And she knew that they wouldn't forgive her easily, but she had to do it.  
>So she picked up her phone and slowly dialed their room number first. It rang and rang but there was no answer. So she dialed Amber first, the results were the same. She finally tried Shannon's number next. After three rings, there was an answer.<p>

"Hello?" Shannon answered.

"Shannon, please don't hang up." Elli pleaded.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hang up on someone who doesn't trust my judgment."

She took a deep breath. "Shannon, I really, _really_, need to talk to you and Amber. Come on, we're best friends! Are we really going to let a guy ruin that? Please….just…please."

There was total silence on the other end. Finally Shannon sighed. "Fine, where are we talking?"

"Can you guys come to my room?"

There was quiet talking on the other end, probably Shannon asking Amber where she wanted to go.

"We'll be there soon, Amber's in the shower."

"Thank you…" Elli whispered.

Shannon hung up the phone and Elli tossed her phone on the bed.

It wasn't long after thought, that her phone started to buzz. She picked it up to read the text she was getting.

Elli, I feel like _such _a terrible gentlemen. I realized I didn't tell you the most important thing tonight.  
>You looked absolutely, indescribably, beautiful.<p>

Love Jason

Elli smiled and hit reply.

Jason, of course I don't mind that you call me that. And by the way, thank you, you didn't look so bad yourself. ;)

Love Elli

As Elli plugged her phone in to charge, there was a light knock on her door. "Come in!" she called.

The handle on the door made a noise. "Can't!" Amber called back.

Elli ran to the door and unlocked it. "Sorry, I didn't realize that I locked it."

Shannon and Amber came in and plunked themselves down on the bed. "Alright, talk." Shannon ordered.

"Putting his sister aside, why shouldn't I see Jason?" She asked.

"No, we shouldn't put aside a murder." Shannon hissed. "You do realize that you are dating a murderer? Do you realize that if he killed her that who's to say you're not next?"

"Shannon! He didn't kill his sister! You don't even know what happened!" Elli fired back.

"Oh and you do?" Shannon screamed.

"No, I don't, but he told me that he didn't do it, and I believe him!"

Amber stood awkwardly off to the side.

"Then how the hell can you defend him? You don't know if he's lying!"

"No, you're right, I don't know, I wasn't even freaking here that summer!" Elli bellowed. "But you know what I do believe? I believe that I love him and when I love someone, I believe them!"

Shannon leaned back. "Well that explains a lot."

"No, Shannon," Elli rubbed her face. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, you meant _exactly _what you said. If you _really _loved Amber and me, you'd believe us."

"I don't know what to believe anymore." Elli whispered. She turned around and leaned against the wall.

"What'd you say?" Shannon asked.

"I said I don't know what to believe anymore!" Elli screamed.

"Stop." Amber sighed.

"What?" Shannon and Elli asked at the same time.

"I said, stop." Amber hissed. "We have been best friends since we were kids. This is pretty much our last summer together. Do you _really _want to spend it like this?"

Shannon and Elli relaxed a little.

"Seriously, even though we still have next summer, who's to say that we aren't going to be busy?" Amber asked. "Elli, you're going to be busy writing music and working to get into Julliard. There's no way that we'll be able to spend all the time in the world together. And Shannon, you'll be busy trying to get into that culinary school you've been talking about since we were, what, five?"

They all exchanged sad glances.

"And I'm, well I'll be going to Harvard Law."

"Wait what?" Shannon asked. "What do you mean you'll be going to Harvard?"

"I applied a few months ago. I thought they just ignored my application because I'm only a junior, but I got a letter last week."

"So you're leaving?" Elli asked.

Amber shrugged. "I leave August tenth…I'm graduating a year early."

"Of this year?" Shannon asked, her voice cracked.

Amber nodded.

Elli sat down on her bed and fell back. "Jesus…."

Her friends fell back in a semi-circle.

"Where has the time gone?" Shannon whispered.

"Tell me about it…" Elli sighed.

"Everything's happening so fast." Amber whispered.

"I'm really sorry guys." Elli muttered.

"Do you love him?" Shannon asked.

"Shannon, I—" Elli sat up and faced Shannon.

"No, Elli, I really need to hear this." Shannon argued. "Do you…Love Jason. And I don't mean you like him…do you really love him?"

"Yes," Elli nodded. "I really love him. I feel really different around him…but in a good way. You know?"

Shannon smiled lightly. "Alright then. Just be…careful you know?"

Elli nodded and hugged Shannon. "Thank you, so much…"

As the girls watched TV, Elli thought about Amber leaving. This really was the last summer they had together. But there was something about the date…something that wasn't right….


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
>June 16<p>

"What are you doing today?" Jason's voice came over on speaker phone.

"Not sure…." Elli drifted off, trying to decide what to wear today. "Why?"

"Do you want to do something?"

Elli picked out a white sun dress with blue flowers on it. "Actually, I was thinking about spending the day with my girls…."

"Oh…alright." Jason's voice was somewhat disappointed.

"I'm sorry," Elli offered.

"No, that's okay. I totally understand." Jason assured. "Uh, about my sister…."

Elli whipped around and stared at the phone.

"I've lit a fire under the police."

"What do you mean?" Elli asked.

"They're re-opening her case. And my parents are flying in tomorrow afternoon."

"Jason, oh my god that's great! I mean…not great in the sense that you're going to have to think about this but that you might finally get some closure."

"Yeah, well see I was thinking, would you maybe…come to the airport with me to pick them up?"

"Of course," Elli answered immediately. "Are yo9u sure? I mean should that be kind of a special time with your parents though?"

"Well I just thought my parents should meet the most important thing in my life right now."

Elli smiled. "Well what would I wear? I want to look good. I mean what if they take one look at me and-"

"Elli, Elli, Elli!" Jason laughed. "Just wear what you're comfortable in, okay?"

"Alright." Elli chuckled. There was a knock on her door. "Oh, I gotta go Jason, sorry. Shannon and Amber are here and we're going out for smoothies."

"Alright, I'll call you later."

"No, I'll call you. I'll probably have my phone shut off anyway."

"Alright, love you." Jason said casually.

"Love you too," Elli answered back as she opened up the door. She hit end and smiled at her friends.

"Hey, ready to go?" Amber asked.

Elli nodded and they headed out of the room.

"So, do you and Jason have plans tonight?" Shannon asked.

The girls were all in Shannon's lime green convertible. Elli was in the passenger seat and Amber sat in the middle.

"Shannon, we don't have to talk about Jason. I know you don't like him." Elli sighed.

"No, I _want_ to talk about Jason. If you love him, then I want to hear about him."

Elli chewed on her cheek, wondering if she should change the subject. "Well, not tonight. But his parents are flying in from Australia tomorrow and I think I'm going with him to the airport to pick them up."

"Why are they coming?" Amber asked.

"Jason got the police to re-open Christy's case and his parents want to be here."

"So what does that mean?" Amber asked.

"Well, there's this rock…by where her bracelet was found. Jason's always had this nagging suspicion that Christy is buried under it."

"Ew, really?" Shannon made a face. "I didn't mean it like that…but…"

"No, I get what you mean. You're right. It _is _pretty gross."

"Why would they even want to look under there?" Shannon asked.

"Well what if that was me? What if you thought I was under there? Wouldn't you want to know if I really was there?"

Her friends shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Yeah, I guess." Amber finally sighed.

"But anyway, I'm just really nervous about it. I mean…what if they don't like me?" Elli ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know…he had dinner with my parents last night."

The car came to an abrupt halt; luckily, they were at a stop light. "What?" Shannon and Amber shrieked.

"Yeah…."Elli widened her eyes. "Was that bad?"

"You tell us!" Amber's eyes were wide with shock.

"Well it was _really _bad at first. My dad wouldn't even shake his hand." Elli sighed.

"Yikes," Shannon said.

"Yeah, but I talked to my mom about it in the kitchen and she went off on me. So I just walked out and went back to the table. It was really awkward because no one was talking. But Jason just stood up and was like 'I'm going to approach the big elephant in the room', blah, blah, blah. And my dad agreed to listen to him."

"What did Jason say?" Amber questioned.

"He apologized for the…well, you know." Elli looked out the corner of her eye at her friends. "So I guess they're…okay with us."

"Really? Wow, you're parents are cool." Shannon turned into the mall parking lot.

They all got out and headed into the big building. As they entered, Elli had only one thing on her mind. She wanted to get a summer dress to wear to meat Jason's parents.

"Can we go into Charlotte's?" Elli asked. "I want to get a really pretty dress for meeting Jason's parents."

"Sure," her friends agreed.

Her friends picked out a few dresses for her to try on, but none of them were working out. Most of them were too big or too small or too baggy. Finally, Shannon came in the dressing room with a dress that looked like an Elli dress. It was cream colored on top and black on the bottom with blue and pink flowers on it. It was spaghetti strapped and super cute. It fit Elli in all the right places and she absolutely loved it. They decided that that was going to be the perfect dress to meet Jason's parents in.

They went into Jimmy Choo's next to look for a pair of shoes. And sure enough, there were shoes there that matched the dress perfectly. Throughout the day, Elli and her friends hit several stores. And when they stopped for milk shakes, Elli sat and listened to Shannon and Amber rate the guys that walked by on a scale of 1 to 10. Elli wasn't looking, but she enjoyed their enthusiasm. After that, they went to the nail salon to get manicures and pedicures  
>On the way back to the hotel, Elli pulled out her phone and started to text Jason.<br>"Texting your Romeo?" Amber asked.

Elli giggled. "Yeah, I told him I'd text him when we were getting back to the hotel."

Hey, we're pulling in right now. I'll call you when I'm up in my room.

Elli put her phone back in her purse and stepped out of the convertible. The girls walked up the steps of the building and entered the big doors. Anna was at the front desk, smacking her pink bubble gum. Her black hair was pulled up and her deep black eyeliner covered half of her lid. She had black lipstick on as well.  
>This certainly wasn't the Anna that Elli remembered. And every time she saw her, the more her heart ached. Elli was closer to Anna than she was to Shannon or Amber.<p>

"Guys, I'll see you later." Elli smiled. She turned for the front desk and started walking.

"Hey, Anna." Elli smiled.

Anna looked up from the tattoo magazine she was reading and gave Elli an annoyed look. Elli smiled again. Anna sighed, rolled her eyes, and closed the magazine. "Can I help you?"

Elli shook her head. "No, I was just wondering…how you're doing?"

"Fine?" Anna's eyebrows pulled together. "Is that all?"

"Anna, what happened to you?" Elli sighed.

"I grew up. I became an individual….Unlike yourself I see." Anna looked Elli up and down. "I see you're still sporting the Gucci and the Prada."

"Anna, we were best friends. What happened to that?"

"You left." Anna snapped and walked into the back room.

Elli ran to the elevator and hit the button.  
>Once in her room, she jumped on her bed and pulled out her phone. She dialed Jason and put the phone to her ear.<p>

"Hey, Elli!" Jason's voice rang.

"Hi," Elli could already feel the butterflies in her stomach. "I'm back,"

"Great, because we never finished talking about my parents."

"Alright, tell me what I need to know." Elli rolled over onto her stomach.

"Well there's actually not much, but their flight comes in at 2:15 tomorrow. I want to take them out to dinner later that night, would you be willing to join us?"

"Absolutely!" Elli smiled. "I'd love to."

"Great. So, can I come over tonight?" Jason asked.

"Hhmm…I don't know…" Elli trailed off.

"Please," Jason laughed. "I haven't seen you all day!"

"Oh, poor you. Get over yourself." Elli laughed.

"Elli," Jason whined.

"Jason," Elli whined in a mocking tone. She laughed and sighed. "You're not going to see me until you pick me up tomorrow to go see your parents."

"Fine." He muttered. "Well in that case, I'll see you at about one thirty?"

"See you then."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
>June 17<p>

Elli pulled at the dress on her body. She was incredibly nervous about meeting Jason's parents. It was only 11 a.m., but she was already freaking out. She still had two and a half hours until Jason was supposed to pick her up. But meeting Jason's parents was a big deal, she needed to be perfect.  
>She curled her hair and applied her makeup. As she admired herself in the mirror, she wondered what his parents were going to be like. Were they smart and sophisticated? Were they trashy and more like hillbillies? But the people who produced Jason <em>had <em>to, just _had _to be perfect.  
>Her phone buzzed on the nightstand and she sprinted over to get it.<p>

Hey, I am so, so, so sorry. I totally messed up the time of my parents' flight. They're getting here in less than twenty minutes. Is there any way possible that you'd be ready in like five minutes? If not, just let me know. I totally understand.  
>-Jason<p>

Elli smiled in relief. She was positive that if she had to wait any longer to leave. She hit reply.

That's absolutely fine, I'll meet you in the lot in a few minutes.

-Elli

Elli grabbed her pink handbag and ran to the elevator. As she waited, she checked her reflection in the chrome doors. When they opened, she skipped through the lobby.

"Elizabeth," Mrs. Tanner called.

Elli turned around. "Yeah?"

"Where might you be going?"

"I'm going with Jason to pick up his parents from the airport."

Mrs. Tanner gave her an apprehensive look. "Alright," she sighed.

Elli ran down the steps of the hotel and searched for Jason's car. He wasn't here yet so Elli paced back and forth. When his black car pulled out, he hurried out and ran to Elli.

"I am so sorry, I can't believe I messed up this bad!" Jason apologized.

"It's okay," Elli giggled.

Jason wrapped his arms around Elli and looked her over. "God, you look…you are so beautiful."

Elli blushed and smiled. "Think so?"

"I know so. Now let's go pick up my parents." He smiled and took her hand.

"Don't be nervous." Jason whispered in Elli's ear as they stood at the gates waiting.

"How can I not be nervous?" Elli let out a nervous laugh.

"They're gonna love you. Don't worry." Jason kissed her hand and looked at the gate. "There they are." Jason pointed.

Elli followed his finger to the couple he was pointing at. The tall man and extremely short woman smiled when they saw Jason. "Jason!" The woman cried.

"Go ahead," Elli smiled at Jason.

"I'll be right back." He smiled back as he ran to his parents.

He scooped up the small woman in his arms and shook his father's hand. As they walked back, Elli smiled. Jason's parents didn't look how Elli had pictured. Jason's tall father was wearing khaki shorts and a plain, white t-shirt while Jason's mother was wearing jean shorts and a pink tank. They were both incredibly tan and lean.

"Mom, dad, this is Elizabeth." Jason gestured to Elli.

"Hi," Elli shook their hands. "It's so great to finally meet you."

"Well it's finally great to meet the mystery girl that Jason is crazy about." Jason's mother laughed. "By the way, I'm Malissa Mitchell, and this is my husband John Mitchell, you can just call us by our first names." Malissa had bleach-blond hair with laugh lines and freckles.

"You should hear the way my boy talks about you." John smiled. John had the same color hair as Jason and he had the same blue eyes. "Well should we get going? I think it's about check in time for us."

"Sure," Jason nodded and took Elli's hand. "The car's out front."

Elli and Jason started walking through the airport.

"Oh, Jason, we can get a cab if you'd like?" Malissa offered.

"Mom, you don't need to waste your money on a cab. Really, it's no problem." Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on,"

Once out to the car, Jason put the suitcases in the trunk. Elli went to get in the back seat, but Malissa stopped her. "Nonsense, you sit in the front by Jason."

"Oh okay, thanks." Elli got in the front seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Where are you staying?" Elli asked, taking a sip of the water she bought on the way out of the airport.

"Oh, we're staying at the Tanner Resort." John answered.

Jason slammed on the breaks, causing Elli's seatbelt to tighten, which caused Elli to spit out her water all over the dash.

"Whoa, everything okay….are there rats there or something?" Malissa asked.

Elli coughed on the water. "No, it's beautiful…" She looked at Jason.

"Uh…it's just that, well…." Jason looked around awkwardly. "Well you probably don't remember this, but that's the place that I got arrested at…."

"Oh, we remember. We thought it was such bull that you got charged and sent to juvi. You did nothing wrong. Why do you think we're staying there? We're planning on complaining about everything in that damn hotel. That Mr. Tanner needs to get a taste of his own crabby medicine." John snapped.

"Well, the thing is—" Jason started.

"What room are you staying in?" Elli interrupted.

"Oh, we're staying in room 125." Malissa answered.

They pulled into the hotel lot. Elli felt like she was going to hyperventilate. Jason looked at her nervously, knowing what was about to go down was _not _going to be pretty. "We'll meet you in your room." Jason stated.

When his parents were gone, Jason pulled into a parking space. Elli sat there silently, not knowing what was going to happen. "Jesus…" she sighed.

"Holy—"

"How could you _not _know that they're staying _here_?" Elli hissed.

Jason shrugged. "I had no idea!"

Elli got out of the car. "Well this is just perfect. My parents hate you and your parents are going to hate me once they find out who I am."

"Hey, hey, hey," Jason murmured, taking Elli's face in his hands. "It's going to be fine, okay? I'm going to go check the lobby and see if they're still in there, if not, then we'll head up there. The last thing we need is for your parents to talk to you while mine are around."

Elli looked away and pursed her lips.

"Smile. Please." Jason requested.

Elli shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because Jason, I don't take people not liking me well." Elli stomped her foot.

"Hey!" Jason shouted. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice!"

Elli stared at him. "What? Don't _look _at you in that _tone of voice?_"

"Yes, don't look at me in that tone of voice. It's rude." Jason smirked.

"You're such an idiot." Elli laughed.

"I know, now can we stop fighting and go inside?" Jason took Elli's hand.

"So then, little Jason didn't know what to do, so he just ate it!" john shouted enthusiastically.

Elli and Jason, along with his family, were out to dinner the same evening. It was the fanciest restaurant in town. Jason's father had just finished telling a story about Jason.

"You actually ate your report card?" Elli laughed.

Jason shrugged. "I didn't know what to do! It was either straight A's or sleeping on the streets in that house."

"Oh that's a lie and you know it." Malissa waved her hand dismissively. She then turned to Elli. "Enough about us, tell us about your family."

Elli dropped her fork on her plate. "Uh…yes, well."

"Mom, dad, we have a confession to make." Jason announced.

Elli shot Jason a look and shook her head.

Jason took Elli's hand and squeezed it. "Elli is Mr. Tanner's daughter."

Jason's parents dropped their forks. "As in…The Tanner Resort?" John asked.

"Yes. As in the tanner resort." Elli answered.

Jason's parents glanced at each other. Malissa took in a deep breath. "Well, I think I'm finished here."  
>She stood up and grabbed her purse. "I'm going to the ladies room and then we'll be going." She looked over at John.<p>

"Mom," Jason sighed. "I'll go talk to her."

"No, this is something I need to do." Elli stood from the table and walked to the ladies room. She opened the door. "Malissa?"

Malissa opened a bathroom stall and began to wash her hands. "Don't worry, we won't bother your family any longer. We'll make hotel reservations somewhere else." She snapped.

Elli's shoulders dropped. "I don't want that."

"That's right, all you Tanner's care about is money. You can never have enough of that money." She proceeded to dry her hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a husband and son waiting for me."

Elli stepped in front of the door. "No, we're talking about this."

Malissa looked bewildered by Elli's sudden demand. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. I want to talk to you about this." Elli folded her arms. "Why are you mad at me?"

"Oh dear," Malissa sighed and sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. "I'm not mad at you."

Elli stepped toward her. "Okay, then I'm lost. Why are you treating me this way?"

"It's just been a really stressful two years. I'm assuming Jason told you about Christy." Malissa crossed her legs and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, he did tell me about her." Elli sat down in the chair next to her. "I'm so sorry."

Malissa took Elli's hand in hers. "Christy was my little girl. She was beautiful and perfect."

Elli suddenly felt extreme remorse for Malissa. She was _really_ hurting, and how could she not be? She'd lost a child, but not in the sense of a death. She doesn't know if her baby girl is still out there or not. "I want to help you all in any way possible. I know how much Christy meant to you guys and I really want to help you find her."

Malissa looked over at her, tears in her eyes. "Thank you. And I'm truly sorry for how I've acted, can you forgive me?"

"Of course." Elli smiled and gave Malissa a hug.

"I'm not looking." A male voice cautioned. "But are you guys okay in here?"

They looked up and saw Jason. He had his hand over his eyes and the door was slightly cracked.

"Yes, we're fine in here." Elli giggled.

"We'll be out in a few minutes, Jason." Malissa smiled.

"Okay," Jason closed the door.

"He's crazy about you, Elizabeth. I hope you know that. I can tell by the way he looks at you." Malissa put a hand on Elli's knee. She sighed. "After Christy went missing, he just…he really did not know what to do. We were scared to leave him alone for fear that he may hurt himself. And when people started accusing him of her murder, that's when he truly felt hopeless. You've really helped him Elizabeth, you really have."

"Well I'm crazy about him too." Elli smiled comfortingly at Malissa.

They stood up and left the bathroom. On the way home, they all talked about the case reopening and how they felt it was finally going to be solved.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
>June 17-29<p>

In the days that followed, a new search party had been sent to find Christy's body. Divers were sent into the river and lakes again to see by any chance there was a trace of Christy, but they'd found nothing. One afternoon, the police asked Jason if he had anywhere that he wanted them to search. Elli got a call from Jason, asking her to meet him by the trail that he'd shown her. He'd said that they were going to dig under the rock and that he understood if Elli didn't want to be there. Part of Elli was scared of what they'd find, but Elli was also hopeful that it may be closure for the two year long hell. Elli drove her car to the trail and got out. Jason stood at the beginning of it, surrounded by officers and dogs that were used to smell the deceased. As Elli got out, she saw something else…a body bag. There were paramedics standing nearby as well. Elli reached Jason and grasped his hand.

"It's going to be okay." She smiled at Jason.

Jason looked down at her. His eyes were red as if he were crying earlier today.

"When would you like us to go in?" One officer asked.

"My parents will be here soon. They need to be here." Jason murmured, not making eye contact with the officer.

Minutes passed and people began to show up. A group of girls stood nearby holding a sign that said:

**Don't worry Christy, Jason killed you and he'll be thrown in jail to rot. **

Another sign said:

**Christy, we miss you! You were the best friend we could have asked for! We love you and hope that your brother will pay for what he did to you!**

"Who are they?" Elli whispered, looking over at the girls with the second sign.

Jason looked over at them. "That's Christy's old best friends, Lindsey, Sarah, and Holly." Jason answered. "They hated me and they think I killed her."

Elli looked away in time for Jason's parents to stroll up. "Are you ready?" John asked.

They all nodded and walked in a line. Jason held Elli's hand as they walked behind everyone else. As they approached the area of the creak, Elli's heart started to pound. The officers gathered around the large rock that Christy may be buried under. Slowly, the men started to push the bolder away to reveal packed down sand. They nodded at each other and grabbed shovels.

Elli watched as the men dug deeper and deeper. They all heaved with the effort of the heavy sand. Jason started to go pale and limp. Elli looked up at him, his face was white as a ghost and he looked as though he was going to be sick. Elli stroked his arm. "Do you want to step away for a moment?" she asked.

Jason shook his head. He wrapped his arms around Elli and kissed the top of her head. "This is it," he whispered. "They're going to find my baby sister."

"I hope so," Elli whispered into his chest.

"Guys I think we found something." One officer stated.

Jason and his parents gasped. Could this be it? Could they really have found Christy? Elli craned her neck to get a look, but she was too short. Jason let go of her and slowly walked over to the hole. He pushed through the circle to see what was going on. There was complete silence in the air.

"What the hell is this?" Jason shouted.

Elli ran to his side. Inside the hole was a small wooden box. An officer put on a pair of gloves and stepped down into the hole. He picked up the box and brought it to the surface. Everyone backed up as the officer climbed back up.

"We'll need to bring this in to the station to see what's in here." He announced.

"No," Jason snapped. "Now, open it now."

"Sir, you don't know what's in here." The man cautioned.

"I want to know. I want to see." Jason demanded.

The officer looked to Malissa and John. They nodded for him to open it. The officer sighed and knelt down on the ground along with Malissa, John, and Jason. "I'm going to open this slowly, alright? I'm going to warn you again, you don't know what's inside this box."

He opened the box to reveal several envelopes. He picked up one envelope and opened it.  
>Everyone gasped at the content. There were pictures of Christy in it. They looked like they were from a few summers ago. Christy's hair was the same color as Jason's. She had the same blue eyes as him and the same freckles as Jason and Malissa. And then Elli realized she'd known Christy. She'd seen her around town when she was here for the summer. She remembered hanging out with her a few years ago along with Shannon, Amber, and Anna. That was one of the best summers of Elli's life. Christy was so sweet and innocent.<p>

As they continued to open envelopes, the pictures became more recent to the time of Christy's disappearance. None of them looked like Christy had any idea she was being photographed. And then the pictures became different. They were of Christy looking over her shoulder, as if she thought she'd heard someone. Picture after picture, face after face, Christy started to look terrified. And then the officer reached the last envelope. He opened it up and Malissa and John cried out.

"That's what she was wearing the night she went missing." Malissa cried.

They flipped through a few pictures and eventually got to the end of them. Everyone sighed in sadness. This wasn't closure, but now they knew someone was stalking Christy before her disappearance. Everyone stood up and started to walk away.

"Wait, there's something else in here." An officer shouted, getting back down into the whole.

Everyone shuffled back over to the whole. There was one last Envelope in the dirt. There were letters taped to the front, the kind you see in movies when someone gets a ransom note. They spelled out:

**T H E - E N D**

Everyone exchanged a nervous glance. There was something different inside this envelope. Something that made Elli's stomach heave.

The envelope was opened in a matter of seconds and caused everyone to clutch their stomachs. The man pulled out. There were pictures in there and they were from the night of Christy's disappearance, but not only that.  
>They were from the night of Christy's murder.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

Everyone was speechless as the pictures were revealed. The first was of Christy backed up to a tree, her hand were out in front of her as if she was defending herself. The next one was of Christy in someone's arms, they were carrying her. And then the last few were gutrenching.

"Oh god!" Malissa wailed.

The next photo was of Christy passed out. And then the last photo was the one that broke the case wide open. The last photo was of Christy's mangled body lying on the ground. It was clear that her throat had been cut and he head had been bashed with a rock. The scene was horrifying and made Elli want to throw up. Elli wondered how someone could do this to Christy. Jason stood up and ran from the hole. Elli stood from the hole as well and ran to Jason.

Jason was crouched down on his knees, clutching his stomach. She knelt down next to him and rubbed small circles on his back. Tears came to Elli's eyes as she watched him.  
>"I'm so sorry Jason," She murmured. "We're going to find the person who did this to her."<p>

"I should have known someone was stalking her." He whispered.

"You couldn't have known, whoever did this knew how to hide." Elli took Jason in her arms.

Jason stood a few minutes later and returned to the crowd. Malissa and John were hunched over by tree. Malissa was in John's arms and he was rocking her back and forth. The police were putting the photos into plastic bags, every one of them had distressed looks on their faces. Jason and Elli approached Malissa and John. When his parents saw them, they turned around and took Jason and Elli into their arms.

Once they left the scene, Elli told Jason that she'd meet them back at the station to be with him for moral support. The police also wanted to question Elli because she was Jason's girlfriend.  
>She followed the cars down the road, thinking of Christy. She wished she'd spent that summer with her and she wished she'd known what was happening. As the cars turned through the streets, there were more girls standing around with signs. They all accused Jason of Christy's murder. Each one made the ache in Elli's gut hurt more and more.<p>

She pulled into the parking lot of the station a few minutes later. Elli followed Jason and his parents into the building. She held Jason's hand as the officers told them to have a seat.

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss." A tall man with dark complexion said. "I'm here to find the person who did this to your daughter. Would you mind if I questioned you individually?"

"That's perfectly fine." Malissa said quietly.

The police questioned Jason's parents first, starting with his mother. As they waited, Jason and Elli talked quietly.

"I knew her." Elli whispered.

"What?" Jason asked, looking at Elli from the corner of his eye.

"I knew her. I hung out with her a few years ago."

Jason turned to her. "You knew my sister and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't know I knew her…." Elli squinted. "I know that doesn't make sense. But I didn't realize that Christy was _your _sister. I haven't talked to her in…"

"Unbelievable." Jason leaned onto his knees.

"I'm sorry." Elli whispered.

Jason put his arm around her. "It's alright." He sighed.

Once both of Jason's parents were finished, they called Elli and Jason in to be interviewed separately. Elli kissed Jason and went into the interview room.

"Have a seat, Ms. Tanner." The detective instructed.

Elli did as she was told and sat down.

"Now I'm sure you know why you're in here." He stated, setting a microphone in front of Elli and setting up a tape recorder.

"Yes, I do." Elli nodded.

"Do you mind if I record this?" He asked, his hand hovering on the button.

Elli shook head. "By all means."

He pressed the button and sat back in his chair. "How did you know Christy?"

"I met her a few years ago over summer break. We hung out for a while, but it ended after that summer."

He nodded. "How come it ended?"

Elli shrugged. "I left for the school year and we parted ways. It was a great summer, but we just grew apart."

"Did you guys hang out with anyone else?"

"Yeah, my friends Shannon, Amber, and Anna."

He nodded again. "Did you ever fight with Christy…argue with her?"

"No, I can't remember fighting with her at all. She was always so sweet." Elli shook her head.

"What about Jason? Did he fight with her?" He started writing in a notebook.

Elli shook her head."I didn't know Jason back then."

"If you were friends with his sister, how did you not know Jason?"

"Christy never invited us to her summer house. She said that it was boring and pointless." Elli answered.

"So you'd never met Jason?"

"I did see him once. He had a run in with my father in 2007." Elli pushed her back behind her ear. "But from what I've heard, Jason really loved his sister."

"Yes, we have that on record." He wrote some more notes in the notebook. "What about your friends? Did they get along with Christy?"

"Yes they did. We all did."

"What were you doing on the night of her murder?"

"Well that was the night that the incident happened with my father. I was on a plane back to Iowa the next morning."

He finished scribbling something in the notebook. "No further questioning. You're free to go, thank you for your time."

"No problem." Elli stood and headed for the door.

"Ms. Tanner, your friends…"

"What about them?"

"Well, it's just that we will need to speak to them as well. Do you know where I might be able to find them?"

"They're at my parent's hotel, most likely." Elli answered.

"Thank you, and if you have anything you remember or need to tell us, call me at this number."

He handed Elli a card with his number. Elli left the room and started down the hall. She heard a few voices and then she heard her name. Elli backed up and listened.

"He's told her he did it. It's so obvious. But we can't arrest him until she says he did it."

"I know. As soon as she does though, we're going to have to nail him fast."

Elli left the station and got into her car.

Elli entered the hotel. Her parents were in the dining room talking. Elli hurried into the elevator and pressed the button. When Elli pulled out her phone, there was a missed call from Jason. He called minutes before, but Elli's phone was still turned off after the interview.  
>Once in her room, Elli called Jason back.<p>

"Hey, how'd it go?" Elli asked.

"Oh god, Elli…they think I did it."

"What? How? Why?"

"I don't know, I could just tell by how he was questioning me."

"Jason, there's no way he believes that." Elli assured. "Don't worry, we're going to find out who did this." 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

June 29-July 10  
>31more days till Jason leaves<p>

Time went on. There were more search parties sent out to find Christy's actual body, but the police were getting nowhere. Elli watched Jason suffer as the media scrutinized him and accused him of the murder. She felt terrible, but had no idea how she could help him.  
>The day after the photos were found, <em>People<em> magazine published a photo of Elli and Jason together walking into the trail and another of them gathered around the hole and then another of them walking hand in hand into the police station. It disgusted Elli how this town got attention because of a murder. It disgusted her that Jason's family had to go through this agony again and again. It wasn't fare and Elli couldn't stop it.

The police questioned everyone individually. They questioned Anna, then Shannon, and then Amber. They were all pretty basic questions, mostly where they were and what they were doing on the night of Christy's murder.  
>Elli looked out of the window in a daze. Eleven days had passed since the photos of Christy were found. It seemed like it had been months though. Jason hadn't talked to Elli in nearly two weeks. He didn't return her calls and he didn't answer her texts. When she emailed him, he didn't reply. When she called his Aunt's house, they said he was out with the police or that he was sleeping.<p>

Elli looked over at the calendar taped to the wall. She hadn't looked at it since the night Jason told her when he was to leave. Her heart started to pound as she realized….it wasn't June anymore. She padded over to the calendar and crossed out the days that had passed. When she finally stopped at the current date, she thought she was wrong. There was no way it was already July 10th.

Elli took out her phone and checked the date. The phone also lied to her, it said it was July tenth. She turned on her laptop, knowing that the date on that was correct. She felt short of breath as she realized…there was only one month until Jason had to leave. Elli tore the calendar off the wall and threw it to the ground. She kicked the side of her desk and slid down the glass wall. Elli crumbled to pieces and cried.

They'd been so involved in the murder that they'd completely forgotten that they had only a month together. Elli knew she didn't dare bring up the date to Jason, for she knew if she did he'd feel bad and stop helping with the searches. Elli didn't mind helping Jason. She knew it meant a lot to him to have her helping him through this. Elli got dressed and combed out her hair.  
>Today the police were doing a private investigation on a tip they'd gotten from some woman in Colorado, so they wouldn't be needing Jason's help. Elli decided to surprise Jason and take him to the beach. On one of the days that Elli was by herself, she'd gone driving around, trying to find that bridge that her and her friends used to hang out on. She'd been successful and wanted to take Jason there.<br>Elli left her room in a hurry.

Elli slammed her car door and walked up the gravel path. Jason was staying with his Aunt and Uncle this summer and there wasn't enough room for his parents to stay with them. As Elli sprinted up the steps, Jason came around the corner of the house.

"Hey beautiful," he called out.

Elli turned around and smiled. She jumped down the steps and ran into his arms. "Good morning."

Jason held Elli's hand as they headed to her car. "So what's up?" he asked.

"I thought we could get away today?" Elli answered. "I want to take you somewhere, somewhere that will take your mind off of…well…"

"Elli, that's a nice thought, but I don't see that happening." Jason looked off into the sun. "This has been on my mind for the past two years, I don't think it's going away."

"I know," Elli looked down at the rocks. "But we can try, can't we?"

Jason nodded and got in the car. Elli turned on the radio to make noise. Even though Jason didn't speak much, Elli knew what he was thinking of. It was hard for Elli to see Jason suffering, to see him hurting. As Elli flipped through the radio stations, she glanced over at Jason. He had his arm dangling out of the window and was nodding his head to the music. Elli sat back and rested her head on her hand and held the wheel with the other.

"I'm sorry." Elli murmured.

Jason looked at her. "What? What are you sorry for?"

Elli bit her thumbnail. "About everything…I just want today to be about us. I want you to forget it for today."

Jason nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry."

Elli pulled over and got out. Jason followed close behind her and grabbed her hand. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere that my friends and I used to go to hang out." Elli answered, holding on to his arm.

"Used to? Why not anymore?" he asked.

"Well, I guess you could say I've been distracted this summer." Elli hopped over a log and onto a rock. "I want to share this with someone new. And I have something to show you." Elli skipped down the trail, Jason following close behind.

"It's almost over." Elli whispered.

Elli and Jason were sitting on the edge of the bridge. Jason had his arms around Elli and was resting his head on her shoulder.  
>"What do you mean it's almost over? It's not almost over." Jason asked.<p>

Elli stood up and rested her body on the railing of the bridge. "Yes it is. It's already July. You leave in August." Elli fidgeted with her thumbs. "And…"

"And what? You have something on your mind. Tell me." Jason stood next to her.

"I just don't feel like this is…I don't think this is the time you should have a girlfriend." Elli instantly regretted saying the words, but she knew it had to be said.

"What do you mean?"

Elli turned to him. "Jason, just think about it. If you're not at the station answering questions, you're searching the woods with your parents. And if you're not doing either of those, you're too tired to talk to me. You don't even answer my phone calls anymore. You don't even answer my texts."

Jason stood there and shook his head. He started to walk to the other end of the bridge, but turned around. "You are the most selfish person I have ever met."

Elli didn't have any words to say. She folded her arms across her chest and stared at Jason who was staring back. She finally found the strength to speak. "I'm selfish? I'm selfish? Jason, do you have any idea what's been like the past two weeks?"

"Yeah, I do, but do you have any idea what it's been like for _me_ the last two weeks? Have you even taken into thought that I have been going through hell?" Jason had anger in his eyes. "Elli, my sister was _murdered_ does that mean anything to you? Do you even think about the fact that I had to look at her mangled body? She was my baby sister Elli and I…I…" Jason turned around and started walking.

"Jason!" Elli called and ran after him.

"No, get away from me!" he screamed. "You have no idea how bad this hurts."

"No idea?" Elli stepped back and shook her head. "I think I have a pretty good idea. No, I don't know personally what it feels like to find out that someone I love was murdered. But I do know how it feels to feel like you're going to lose the most important thing to you right now. In the past two weeks, I've gotten phone calls, I've gotten emails, I've gotten harassed to do interviews. All of them want to know what it feels like to be dating the murderer of Christy. I don't believe for one second that you had anything to do with her murder, but I keep getting letters from people I don't even know that say that I'm next."

Jason inhaled.

"Jason, you don't even have _any _idea what I'm going through. I'm not mad at you for getting involved in this. I want you to try to find the killer, I want you to have closure, I want you to have your vengeance. But I _am _mad at you for shutting me out. I hate the fact that you don't feel like you can talk to me about this. Jason, I'm here. I love you. I've never felt this way about anyone in my entire life and I'm scared. It scares me to think that these feelings may go unreturned. It scares me to think that you don't love me in that way and it scares me to think that my parents still hate you. It scares me to think that you're parents don't like me. I mean, they say they do, but I'm not stupid. I'm not blind.  
>When they see me with you, I see the dirty looks. I want you, but I don't want you if it means that you are just going to shut me out. If we're going to make this work while you're millions of miles away in Australia, then we can't just go weeks and weeks without talking. "<p>

Jason looked away. "Elli I…"

"No, it's over." Elli started to walk away. "But know this, you just threw the _one _girl in this town that gave a damn about you away."

Elli sprinted off the bridge and through the woods. She thought that after this, she'd feel better. That she'd feel like she'd done the right thing. But all Elli could think about is how she felt like she did the wrong thing.

"What do you mean you ended it with him?" Shannon asked. "What happened?"

Elli was slouched down against the headboard on her bed. She hugged her knees and took a bite of another cookie. She shrugged. "We got in a fight."

Shannon and Amber exchanged glances. "What do you _mean_ you got in a fight?" Amber asked.

"What I just said. We got in a fight and I ended it." Elli looked over at the window. "I just feel really selfish."

"What was the fight about?" Shannon examined her cuticles.

"I just went off about him not answering my texts or my calls for the past week and a half. And I suggested that this wasn't the time for him to have a girlfriend."

"Elli, you should call him." Amber whispered.

"Why? He won't answer me anyway." Elli let her head fall back against the board.

"Alright, then we should have a girls night." Shannon fell back on the bed. "Like, spend the night in the barn like we used to." She propped herself up on her elbow. "We could rob the liquor cabinet." She bit her bottom lip and moved her eyebrows up and down.

"Nah, let's not." Elli laughed. "Why don't we just spend the night, _without_ alcohol?"

Shannon giggled and nodded. "Fine, you in Amber?"

"I'm in." Amber stood up and stretched. "Let's go get ready."

"Hey, it's only noon, let's go for a swim." Elli suggested.

"Well, are you sure you wanna go outside?" Amber looked skeptical.

"Why wouldn't I?" Elli got up and threw away the bag of cookies.

"Well, the press has been following you and Jason around for weeks, don't you think that they'll be…out there?"

"No, they only follow me when Jason's with. Otherwise, they follow him." Elli grabbed her bathing suit and went to the bathroom. When she came out, she had on a sundress and Gucci sunglasses. "Come on."

The girls exchanged nervous looks, but followed Elli to their room.  
>When everyone emerged from the hotel and headed to Elli's car, Shannon and Amber looked around for hidden cameras. Elli sped away from the hotel and toward the beach. Elli could feel herself calming down as they came closer to the water. She'd call Jason tomorrow and talk to him. But today, she needed to be alone with her friends.<p>

Elli parked the car and got out. Everyone headed to the dock, their flip flops making loud smacking noises.

"There she is!" someone screamed.

Elli turned around to see who was shouting. "Oh god."

Shannon and Amber turned as well.  
>The news crews and reporters swarmed Elli. "Elizabeth, how do you feel about yours and Jason's break up?" a redhead asked.<p>

"Are you heartbroken?" a blond pushed her way through.

"Do you regret anything?" another brunette appeared.

"Do you wish you could get back together with him?" a gray haired man asked.

"Do you know what he's doing now?" the same redhead screamed.

"Why did you break up?" the blond pushed her way in front of the redhead.

"Did he try to kill you?"The brunette screamed even louder.

"Did he tell you he killed his sister?"

"Did he accuse you of killing her?"

The questions were shouted louder and louder. Elli covered her ears and ran away. Shannon and Amber weren't far behind. She ran onto the dock and waited for her friends.

"Jump, Elli!" Shannon screamed.

"Hurry!" Amber was already taking off her shirt.

Elli slipped out of the sundress and plunged into the water. She held on to the leg of it and waited to see her friends jump. When their bodies came hurling in, she ducked under the dock.  
>"Guys, under here." Elli whispered.<p>

Shannon and Amber paddled under and huddled with Elli. "Where are they?" Elli asked.

"I'll look." Shannon whispered.

Before she could raise herself out of the water to look, there were loud footsteps on the dock. Amber pressed a finger to her lips.

"Where'd they go?" someone shouted.

"They jumped in the water." Another answered.

There were moans and groans as they waited for the girls to surface. "Let's just go. This is pointless."

The voices and footsteps got quieter and quieter until they eventually stopped. Elli swam under the water and surfaced on the other side of the dock. Shannon and Amber followed her.

"How the hell do they know we broke up already?" Elli hissed. "It was just this morning!"

"They know everything." Amber sighed. "Do you want to just go to the barn?"

"Yeah, let's go."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
>July 10 <p>

Hours later, Elli and the girls were headed into the barn with their things. They had blankets, drinks, snacks, iPods, and stereo systems. They set up their things in a circle and turned on some music. They took quizzes in magazines and gossiped about the celebrities.

"J-14 is following this kid Justin Bieber!" Amber giggled. "He's like, what, twelve?"

"Let me see that." Elli demanded. She looked at the description. "Fifteen bimbo." She handed the magazine back to Amber. "Besides, he's cute."

"Yeah, but he looks so young." Amber laughed. "Like, pudgy faced."

"Amber, that's not his fault. Have you listened to his music though?" Shannon asked.

"No," Amber answered, biting her thumb as she paged through.

"He's actually _really_ good." Elli stated. "I like his song One Time. It was released just a few days ago."

"Yeah," Shannon giggled. "I bought it on iTunes."

"Me too." Elli smiled.

"Yeah, well," Amber rolled over on her back. "He won't last. I give him three months."

Elli and Shannon rolled their eyes.  
>Amber laughed even harder.<p>

"What?" they asked.

"He says he was to sell out the garden in a year!" Amber roared. "Like that will happen."

"I think it could." Elli shrugged. "Kid's got talent."

"Yeah," Shannon agreed.

"Are you willing to bet money?" Amber asked.

"Why not, ten bucks." Elli agreed.

"Okay, so you say that Justin will sell out the garden in a year?" Amber asked.

"Yes," Shannon and Elli agreed.

"Alright, we'll see about this." Amber laughed.

They all continued with the teen quizzes and the junk food consumption. Things got quiet around 9:30. The magazines had been read and the playlists were overplayed.

"That's enough of that I guess." Elli shut off the iPod and lied back down on her sleeping bag.

"So…." Shannon started. "Have you gotten any news about the case?"

"Shannon," Amber warned.

"No, it's fine." Elli cautioned. "Um, no there hasn't been any news. I mean, they keep looking for her body, it's just so hard to find. I mean, it's been two years already and they finally have some evidence that she was killed."

"So, they have no idea who did it?" Amber asked.

"No, they don't. They keep wanting accuse Jason because he's the brother. It's obvious they think he did it and the problem is that there is no evidence against him." Elli bit down on a dorito.

"Then how can they even accuse someone when they don't have a body?" Shannon scratched a bug bite on her arm.

"I really hope they find one. It's really hurting Jason."

Amber nodded. "Where do you think she could be?"

"I have no idea." Elli shook her head. "We thought she was going to be under that rock, but of course she wasn't."

"Do you know who did it yet?" Shannon asked, nervous tension in her voice.

"No," Elli replied with confusion in hers. "We don't. They can't form a case against Jason and they don't have any leads on someone else."

"She's probably right under our noses." Amber added, getting up to look outside. She turned around and smiled. "You haven't played for us in a long time."

Elli looked down. "You're right…I haven't…"

"Well why don't you?" Shannon asked. "I've been dying to hear that voice of yours."

Elli smiled. "Alright, but my guitar is my room."

One of the horses sighed in the stable. Elli got up and sprinted out of the barn. As she ran into the hotel, she was careful to check her back. It still confused her that the press always wanted to talk to her. She had nothing to do with the case other than the fact that she was dating the supposed murder.  
>Elli opened the door to her room and grabbed her second guitar and her sheet music. She ran back to the elevator and pressed the button.<br>When the doors opened, she saw Anna leaving the counter and heading to the door.

"Anna," Elli called, sprinting over to her. "Anna, hey!"

Anna turned around with a sigh. "What?"

"Uhm, I was just wondering if you wanted to…you know…" Elli shifted her weight to her left leg. "We're having a camp out in the barn tonight. You know, if you're interested…."

"No." Anna turned around again and left the hotel.

Elli chewed her bottom lip and the followed Anna. "Anna, wait."

Anna turned around again. "Elli, I don't want to come to your guy's sleep over."

"You need to talk to me." Elli pleaded. "Please, just tell me why you hate me."

"I don't hate you Elli." Anna unlocked her car.

"Could have fooled me." Elli muttered.

"You know what Elli, I'm not talking to you to protect Amber and Shannon. And more importantly you." She got into her car.

"What are you talking about?" Elli folded her arms.

"Just what I said." She started the car. "Elli, that summer you left early, a lot of things happened. Things that you don't have any clue about."

Anna backed away and sped down the road. Elli shook her head, trying to come back to reality. She had no idea what just happened. She turned and headed back to the barn.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Shannon asked. Amber was braiding Shannon's hair.

"I talked to Anna." Elli set the guitar down and knelt down across from her friends.

"Really?" Amber grabbed a hair tie and closed off the braid. "What'd you talk about?"

"I invited her to come…but she said no." Elli answered. "I asked her why she hated me and she said she didn't, that she wasn't talking to me because she was protecting me."

"What?" Shannon shot Elli a look. "What do you mean?"

"She said that when I left early the summer of the hotel incident, that a lot of things happened that I still don't know about."

"She's high." Amber said flatly. "Seriously Elli, just forget about her. She's totally gone off the deep end."

"Yeah, but play. We want to hear your songs." Shannon pointed to the guitar.

The girls huddled in a circle as they slept. The night was quiet and peaceful. Suddenly something made a noise outside. (July 11th)

"Did you hear that?" Shannon hissed, sitting up.

They all sat up and looked to the far end of the barn. They couldn't see anything because it was so dark.

"Seriously guys, I heard something." Shannon hugged her knees. "Dude, what if it's like…a killer. What if it's the freak that killed Christy!"

"Not funny Shannon." Elli sighed. She stood up and walked over to the lantern across the room. She picked it up and headed for the door.

"Elli no, don't! Are you crazy?" Amber hissed.

"Guys, it's probably a raccoon." Elli giggled. "I'll be right back."

Elli opened the barn door and peered outside. "Hello?"

"Oh Shi—" someone fell out of the bush next to the barn.

Elli squinted, trying to focus in on the figure. "Jason?"

The boy looked up. It was definitely Jason. His beautiful, piercing blue eyes were visible in the dark night.

Elli sighed. "Jason, what are you doing outside my barn?"

"Elli," Jason put his hands on her shoulders and tried to steady himself. "I l-love you."

"You're drunk." Elli rolled her eyes and shook his hands off.

"No I am not." Jason fell to the ground as soon as she moved.

"Right, that's why you're slurring your words." Elli started to walk back to the barn.

"Elli, please, I really do love you." Jason stood back up and stumbled over to her.

Elli looked away.

"I'm sorry. I should have been answering your messages. It was very rude of me not to. But please hear me when I say that I have never loved someone so much in my life." Jason looked at her in a desperate way. "Elli, you are the most important thing to me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I love you and…and I don't know what else to say."

Elli looked at Jason. She walked up to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry I snapped. I've never gone through anything like this before…it's really…strange."

Jason smiled and kissed the top of her head. Elli leaned up and kissed Jason.

"Come on, let's get you inside." Elli whispered. "Try not to toss your cookies on my friends though."

"I don't think I should," Jason sort of backed away.

"Why?" Elli was puzzled.

"Because, you're parents will get mad…and let's just say I don't want conflict with your dad." Jason looked around.

"It's fine. Besides, I can't let you drive in this condition." Elli opened the barn door and turned on the lights.

Shannon and Amber groaned. "Come on, Elli!"

"Sorry. Alright you can sleep over here." Elli walked over to the other side of the barn.

"Why all the way over here?" Jason asked.

"Because, on the off chance that my dad does come out here…it'd look better to have you shoved over in the corner than snuggled up to me don't you think?"

"Good point…" Jason sat down in the corner.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is he doing in here?" Shannon stood up and covered her body, even though she wasn't dressed any less that she usually was.

"He's drunk and I don't want him driving like that." Elli threw him a blanket.

"Well there better not be any canoodling!" Amber snapped.

"Guys, what kind of girl do you take me for?" Elli crawled back into her sleeping bag.

Everyone let out a sigh.

"Come on, let's just get some sleep." Elli shut off the lights and closed her eyes.

"Elli wake up." Shannon's voice was urgent.

"What? What?" Elli sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Look for yourself." Amber handed Elli the tabloid.

Elli focused on it.

Elizabeth Tanner and Jason Mitchell  
>Back together again? Turn to page 10 to get the juicy details<p>

On the front was a picture of Jason and Elli. But what freaked Elli out more was that it was of last night. They were standing outside the barn and they were hugging.  
>Elli turned to page ten to see what they said. The page was splashed with pictures of Jason and Elli from last night. IN the five minutes that they were out there, the paps got more than 30 photos. They were like play by play pictures of the night. The last image was of them entering the barn.<p>

Jason and Elizabeth seem to have put their differences aside. But so soon? Something tells us that Elizabeth knows who murdered Jason's sister and something tells us it's Jason. We over heard Elizabeth say this to her friends. "It's obvious he did it."  
>To hear the tape for yourself, go to our website .com .<p>

"Get your phone out!" Elli commanded Shannon.

Shannon pulled up the webpage and handed the phone to Elli. She pressed play.

The video showed Elli, Shannon, and Amber sitting in a circle. It was obviously taped through the window next to them…the one they'd left open.

"So they have no idea who did it?" Amber asked.

"Well it's obvious that he did it." Elli replied.

"They edited it! I never said that! You know I didn't!" Elli screamed.

The door opened up and Elli's mom entered the room. Her eyes were angry and she glared at Jason, who was still passed out in the corner.

"Elizabeth Marie tanner, how _dare_ you bring a boy in here!" She held the tabloid in her hands and walked over to Jason. "Wake up!" she shouted.

Jason jumped and opened his eyes. He stood up and backed against the wall. "Uh…I….Uh—"

"Yeah, uhhhh," Mrs. Tanner snapped. "How dare you come in here and take advantage of my daughter—"

"Mom!" Elli yelled. "We didn't do anything!"

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to believe that?" Mrs. Tanner stared at her daughter.

"Mom, Shannon and Amber were here all night!" Elli snapped.

Her mom's posture softened a little. "Then why is he here?"

"Because mom, he was—"

"I had a little too much to drink last night and I came here. Elli was kind enough to allow me to sleep over here so that I wouldn't have to drive back to my Aunt and Uncle's. Honestly, I've been over here since. I would not disrespect you or Mr. Tanner." Jason placed his hand on his chest. "We should have confronted you first."

"Yes you should have. For god sakes Jason, we would have allowed you to stay in the hotel." Mrs. Tanner turned to Elli. "As for this," she held up the tabloid. "What are we to do about this? Your reputation is completely soiled now."

"What's that?" Jason asked.

"It's nothing." Elli snatched both tabloids and held them behind her back.

"Elli, let me see." Jason pleaded.

She handed him one. He looked at the cover and then back at Elli. He turned to page ten and read through it. "Where's the video?" he whispered.

Shannon hesitated, and then handed Jason the phone. He played the video and then closed his eyes. He handed Shannon the phone back and then looked at Elli. "Yeah, I should have known." He started for the door.

"Known what?" Elli asked.

"That you were going to end up like the rest of them. Saying, 'oh it's obvious he did it!'" He stared at Elli. "You may not believe me, but I loved my sister, I still do. And I would have done everything in my power to protect her. I'd trade places with her in a heartbeat. But I guess you just won't understand. I guess no one will. Excuse me, Mrs. Tanner. I have to go." Jason stormed out of the barn, tossing the tabloid aside.

Elli looked down at the floor. "Great." She sunk to the floor and dried her eye.

"So I'll call the lawyer." Mrs. Tanner sighed and folded her arms across her chest.

"Why?" Elli asked.

"You've stated that he did it. They police are going to be here at any time. Get dressed, we're going to need to be ready." Mrs. Tanner left the barn.

Elli stared at the floor. "They're going to arrest him." She whispered.

"What?" Amber asked.

"They're going to arrest him. That day that they questioned me, I overheard two cops talking. They said that as soon as I said he did it, they're going to arrest him." Elli covered her face. "They're going to arrest Jason and it's all my fault."

"They can't do that! Is that even legal? They can't just edit tapes can they?" Shannon asked.

"Elli won't have any proof that she didn't say that when there is video proof that she did. And we don't have any proof that the tapes have been tampered with." Amber answered. "Jason's going to be arrested. And there's nothing we can do about it."


End file.
